This monthWord Processing & Desk-Top Publishing
A Word-Processor
programme enables you to type and format a document in the computer, viewing the result on the screen exactly as it will be printed. You can save as many different versions as you need, print them out or send them to the recipient as a file on a floppy disc or via a network connection.

A Desk Top Publishing
programme provides much more sophisticated control over layout and enables you to produce material to send direct to the printing house.
Word-Processing is usually the first PC application in a small business. It releases you from the tyranny of the typewriter and opens up a whole new world of flexible production of letters, reports, legal documents, press releases etc. When buying their first house in 1968 Richard and his wife sat for hours in the solicitors office on the day the keys were due to be handed over while a young typist painstakingly produced pages of legal documents. Nearly all were identical to those in any other house purchase agreement. With a word-processor she could have made the alterations to a standard text on file and run it all off in minutes. 'Flexibility' is the key word. Once a document is in the word-processor you can easily edit it, add different names and addresses, move sections around, use different text fonts and check the spelling. You can format the document (e.g. into 2 or 3 columns), to insert logos, graphs, and diagrams and even use coloured backgrounds or text. Small businesses typically use word-processors for letters, newsletters, catalogues, reports, handbills/leaflets, instruction booklets, forms, and simple presentations. The great thing about most word-processing packages is that you can start off using them in a very simple way, and gradually explore the fancy features as you need them.
Case Studies
NES is the trading consultancy of the Northumberland Wildlife Trust, carrying out activities such as environmental audits and ecological surveys. It covenants all its profits to the charity so keeping costs down is of major importance. They need their computers to help them to make the best use of the time of the consultants, but they can't afford to invest in expensive equipment. They have an old computer that is used mainly for word-processing and recently needed to use it to send promotional letters to potential clients. They chose to use 'mail-merge' which enabled them to run off a large number of letters with personalised names, addresses and other details which were taken from a simple table of data. Once the computer was set up correctly a volunteer member of staff was able to input the information and run the mail-merge facilities to produce the required letters. Case Study:

Northumberland
Ecological Services
Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Business: Environmental Consultants

Staff: 4 PCs: 1
The mail-merge facility enabled less skilled staff to take over the time-consuming work previously done by salaried staff, thus cutting costs and increasing the profit donated to the Wildlife Trust.Good News
The manuals were too time-consuming and technically detailed to use. However they found a colleague who knew about mail-merge and taught them to use it within an hour. Bad News
Knowledge Business Systems produce a monthly newsletter for existing and potential clients. About 2 years ago they took on a sandwich student from the local University and asked him to produce something better using desk-top publishing. He put together an 8-page newsletter which includes photos and diagrams scanned in from other documents, clip-art from PowerPoint, and even cartoons. The overall impression now given is of a thoroughly professional company. About 1300 copies of the first issue in the new format were sent out and an amazing 250 enquiries were received, 50 of which led to sales leads. The quality of the newsletter is now so high that software and hardware manufacturers are prepared to pay for their products to be featured. The project is entirely self-funding. Good News: Knowledge Business Systems clients now get a much more informative and useful newsletter than before, and at no cost to the company. They can easily produce more than one version of the newsletter for different types of clients - e.g. one for businesses and one for the educational sector. Bad news: Upgrading from old to newer versions of the DTP package was not as easy as the manual indicated. Their DTP software was not very compatible with that used by the printers. Problems kept arising so they switched to a package that produces 'industry standard' outputs. The training courses were too expensive (£700) so they had to learn the hard way. Case Study:

Knowledge Business Systems
Chester-le-Street

Business: Computer Sales,

Service and Training
Staff: 15 PCs: 20
Knowledge Business Systems clients now get a much more informative and useful newsletter than before, and at no cost to the company. They can easily produce more than one version of the newsletter for different types of clients - e.g. one for businesses and one for the educational sector. Good News
Upgrading from old to newer versions of the DTP package was not as easy as the manual indicated. Their DTP software was not very compatible with that used by the printers. Problems kept arising so they switched to a package that produces 'industry standard' outputs. The training courses were too expensive (£700) so they had to learn the hard way. Bad News