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Utilising ICT in academic communication Academic Communication for Advanced Secondary Schools

They are also known as web or digital resources or e-resources. Online resources have
impacted the way knowledge is accessed and disseminated. They have also provided
improved solutions to complex challenges. Students and teachers are provided with vast
amounts of information in various domains such as education, natural science, politics,
social science and humanities. It is with no doubt that ICT has revolutionized how we
access, process, and disseminate information, but it doesn’t eliminate the importance
FOR ONLINE READING ONLY
of physical resources entirely.

Physical resources of information

Physical resources of information refer to tangible or physical items that are available for
use. They include books, magazines, letters, diaries, journals and other printed materials.
They are found in libraries and archives. Physical resources are still essential, even
with the advancement of ICT. Certain types of information may only be available in
physical libraries. They also serve as platforms for social gatherings. You can access
physical libraries for free or at a minimal cost. More importantly, resources such as
libraries, museums and archives now host a range of learning materials ranging from
physical books and journals to e-journals, e-books and internet gateways. ICT has come
to widen access to different types of resources in the physical library. For instance, library
catalogues, which used to be available in mere CD-ROM format in the past alongside
physical indexes, are now heavily web-based. This means access to the catalogues can
be done anywhere and anytime as long as there is internet.
Furthermore, large-scale projects have been implemented, aiming to digitise the contents
of library special collections and make them not only more accessible to the public but
also preserve the items by reducing the need to handle fragile physical copies. Such
projects share the same ambitions as the development of e-journals and e-books. Storing
books, journals and other publications online can save substantive physical storage space
in physical libraries. This process permits a shift in the use of library space and extends
the life of the physical collections since it reduces the frequency of the manual retrieval
processes, which can affect the collections.

Accessing physical and digital resources
Accessing both resources of information is possible through the following library
management system catalogues:

(a) Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC)

Access to a library’s physical and digital resources is typically managed using
an integrated library management system, which maintains the library collection,
allows users to search and locate resources and provides a range of other services
such as account management, resource reservations and resource recommendations.
For example, users can often search for resources using personal computers in the
library or their own devices if remote access is available. They can also use desktop

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