Introduction
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a field that uses developing technologies to allow users to participate in a world that is changing rapidly. Through ICT, individuals, businesses, and corporations store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit and receive digital information. This is made possible by the wide range of digital communication technologies that are emerging every day. Information and communication technology has a great impact on the society. It has been useful in education, agriculture, poverty alleviation, health, employment, economic development, governance, and others. To write a research paper on the effects of Information and Communication Technology on the society, one has to rely on research that has been previously done. An annotated bibliography gives summary of publications or researches made by other individuals. Different sources are used and the central idea in each source is noted down. EndNote X1 program allows a writer to save, organize, and use references used to write a paper. It has its advantages and disadvantages. This paper will seek to provide an annotated bibliography of sources discussing the impacts of ICT on the society.
Annotated Bibliography
Subbiah, A. 2002. “Reaching the Unreached: How can we use ICTs to Empower the Rural Poor in the Developing World through Enhanced Access to Relevant Information”. 68th IFLA Council and General Conference. Web.
This conference paper was compiled by Subbiah Arunachalam of M S Swaminathan Foundation in India. It explains how the availability of information and communications technologies has enabled availability of information to individuals businesses, and corporations. The paper states that providing access to information and communication technologies both in developed and developing countries helps reduce poverty and increase development. The information can be made available to the rural poor so as to improve their lives. ICT helps provide access to timely and relevant information to individuals in a community. This brings a difference to the lives of many people. The paper reflected the role of ICT in India and states that the information provided about the prices of agricultural inputs and outputs saved farmers from exploitation. ICT provides information on healthcare helping individuals to take actions that can prevent disease attacks or cure diseases. Health information touching on women helps them improve their lives. Information on weather helps identify the best time to sow and travel. Information on animal diseases helps farmers to contact veterinary officers when their animals develop complications. The internet helps students to access information from all over the world. This increases their knowledge and performance in the classrooms. Information and communications technology increases the availability of relevant and timely information to the rich and the poor and in turn improves their lives.
Dugger, C.2000. “Connecting Rural India to the World”. New York Times. Web.
This article was posted in the New York Times by Celia W. Dugger describing the impacts of connecting rural areas to the world through the information and communication technology. One of the impacts is access to information that allowed individuals in the rural areas to know the prices of farm products and inputs. This improved their lives in that they knew the time to purchase inputs and sell their farm products. The prices they found in the internet increased their bargaining power when they went to sell their products. This eventually increased their sales. Information on animal husbandry helped them improve their standards in rearing animals especially cattle. Young students enrolled for classes to learn on how to operate the computers. Some of them secured jobs using the knowledge acquired. People who suffered from different diseases knew of the presence of hospitals that were a solution to their problems. Information and communication technology helped save the lives of many individuals in the area. Medical professionals used information and communications technology to determine the needs of the rural residents. This again helped increase the living standards of the residents. Many people purchased computers and connected to the internet offering internet services. These businesses helped them earn money and increase their income. Information and communications technology increased the speed of communication so that farmers could access the prices of products in the market the same day. ICT led to economic development because individuals in the rural areas could now access global economies. They sold their products at higher prices which in turn increases their living standards. Information and communications technology has helped reduce poverty in many areas.
Guneven, O. 1998. “The Impacts of Information and Communication Technologies on Society”. Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 2, No. 4.
This article was composed by Orhan Guvenen who is currently the undersecretary of the state planning organization in Turkey. He is also the director of the institute of world systems and a lecturer in Bilkent University. According to him, information and communication technology changes the structure of the economy, governance, and the society. According to the article, Information and Communication Technology leads to welfare gains. The information that ICT provides is used in efficient resource allocation in a country. This affects the welfare of individuals all over the country. Information on availability of different commodities that can be used for one purpose gives individuals choices. For a community experience scientific and technological growth, information must be available. The information provided by ICT helps in sustaining productivity growth throughout an economy. Availability of information is very important in decision making. Decisions made using relevant information are good and promote welfare in organizations. ICT has changed the nature of work in many organizations where about fifty percent of the employees in them collect, process or transmit information. ICT has led to the development of the information sector especially the media that has employed many people. This increases the welfare of the employees. Information helps bring people together and therefore improving relationships amongst individuals. ICT helps avail information that increases the welfare on individuals in a community.
Konsbruck, L. “Impacts of Information and Communication Technology on Society in the New Century”. Web.
This article was composed by Konsbruck and focused on the impacts of information and communications technology on the society as a whole. According to the article, ICT affects fields such as commerce, market structure, business models, labor market, workplace, education, private life and others. On the impact if information and communication technology on the market structure, business models and commerce, some jobs can be outsourced to keep the expenses low. Information and communications technology provides buyers with a variety of prices for the commodities that they want in the market. This helps them spend wisely and protects them from exploitation. The internet allows retailers to order for goods directly without traveling to the wholesalers. Some other individuals have opted to work from home instead of traveling everyday to the workplace when they can perform all their duties from home. Information and communication technology have an influence on the frequency of communication. The emergence of ICT allows for sharing of information across departments. This helps in making the production process more efficient. Development of information and communication technology has had a positive influence on both teachers and students in the learning process. Information and communication technology helps create and reduce jobs according to the article. Some individuals loose their jobs because their work can be done easily and perfectly using a computer by another individual. Other individuals who possess some knowledge in the field of information and communication technology secure jobs. All the same, the number of individuals employed is more than the number sent home.
Nayak, S., Thorat, S. & Kalyankar, N. 2010. “A Role of ICT in Sustainable Rural Development”. International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security, Vol. 7, No. 1.
This article was composed by Nayak, Thorat and Kalvankar. They discuss the impacts of ICT on solving many challenges experienced by people in the rural areas. ICT allows the government to apply e-governance that can help reduce poverty. The information also helps in making the government processes more efficient and transparent since information concerning the processes will be distributed all over the nation. The individuals living in the rural areas rely on farming to earn their living. ICT provides such people with important information such as crop care, animal husbandry, pest control, market prices, and others. This increases their production and prevents them from being exploited by buyers. Use of ICT in delivering health care allows heath care providers to address the needs of patients in remote areas. Use of ICT in educational institutes fosters learning and teaching. Teachers can teach more efficiently and students can access information easily. ICT has high contribution to economic development. Information technology has eased communications across distances making people from all places to participate in global economy. Information and communication technology provides information about employment opportunities to individuals living in the rural areas. Some of these individuals fail to work due to lack of opportunities but the emergence of ICT makes information available to them.
The EndNote X1 Program
EndNote X1 is bibliographic software that is used in management of references (EndNote X1 2009, para.2). It is mostly used with the word processor to format notes and bibliographies as one writes a paper. It allows a writer to save, organize and use references that he or she finds from a variety of sources. Using the software, an individual can create a library of references, search and download references from electronic databases and library catalogues and generate citations and bibliographies in specific styles.
Recommendation for a New Researcher
For a researcher using a large number of citations to write reports and papers, EndNote X1 is very important. The program will help the new researcher to manage the details in the many references. This will be made possible by the library list which reveals many authors instantly. The researcher will be able to review the information from all these sources because the program makes them available at all times. The program has a quick search tool that will help the researcher to search specific information from the library. This will save the researcher a lot of time that could have been wasted in searching for one reference at a time. The program provides a researcher with information concerning an issue from different citations. When a researcher is using many citations, locating a change manually is quite tiresome. The program allows a researcher to confirm changes to a reference. In addition to searching for information in a specific field, the program allows one to specify a period of time when the references were published. It gives a researcher an option to search for general information regarding a topic and to keep on making it as specific as possible. It also has the logical operations; “and, or, and not” to help in searching for specific information. The program also helps a researcher to format the references using his or her style of preference (EndNote X1 2009, para.4). This saves the researcher a lot of time which could have been spent formatting references. When one has some information, the EndNote X1 helps him or her to search for a reference marching the information. This way, a writer inserts references as he or she continues with his or her writing. When the program identifies a relevant reference, the researcher inserts the reference as in-text citation while the program formats the reference according to the specified style and inserts it at the right position in the bibliography. The program presents the writer with several references for him or her to select the one he or she wants to use.
Advantages of Using EndNote
The EndNote X1 Program presents a researcher with many advantages compared to another who does not use the program. It allows a researcher to use the Library Catalogue’s advanced search options. This allows the researcher to access some information which could not have been accessed if he or she searched for them manually. The references found help him or her to write a detailed paper. EndNote X1 gives the researcher a wide range of references to import from (O’Connor and Tom 2010, para.4). The references chosen have more information and help the researcher to produce relevant work. The program is compatible with Microsoft Vista and windows 2007 which are widely used. Many researchers have knowledge in using windows vista and windows 2007 making it easier for them to use the program. It is also well integrated with Microsoft word that researchers use in writing their papers. The research tools integrated in the program are powerful allowing researchers to quickly access research materials. EndNote X1 comes with a well-written and extensive user guide making it easier for many researchers to use. It also provides updated content that can be downloaded free of charge. It is popular and therefore many people know how to use it.
Disadvantages of EndNote X1
EndNote X1 has some disadvantages associated with its use. It is a bit complicated. In searching for references, the process is quite long and the specifications are many. A mistake in any of the entries required could give some completely different references. For individuals who perform their research occasionally, the program is a bit expensive (O’Connor and Tom 2010, para.5). It is more beneficial for those who perform research frequently. It can also be overwhelming for new researchers.
Importance of Using EndNote X1
Researchers should be encouraged to learn how to use the program because it has many advantages. It helps researchers to save a lot of time that could have been used looking for references manually. A lot of time which could have been used formatting references according to specific writing styles is also saved. It provides the researchers with a wide range of references for them to choose the ones to use. The relevance of the papers written is higher because the researchers have plenty of information. For students, the use of the program improves performance because the formatting of the bibliography is correct. This eventually increases the marks of the students. The program is updated frequently ensuring the information available is as relevant as possible.
Conclusion
Information and communication technology has many impacts on the society. Many researchers have developed articles detailing the impacts of ICT on the society. Subbiah Arunachalam composed an article which was a conference discussion explaining the effects of information and communication technology on poor individuals in the rural areas. Celia W. Dugger composed an article explaining hoe information and communication technology connected connects rural areas to the world. Orhan Guvenen’s article explains how information and communication technology changes the structure of the economy, governance, and the society. Nayak, Thorat and Kalvankar explain how information and communications technology helps solve problems experienced by individuals in the rural areas. Konsbruck also has an article explaining the effects of information and communications technology on the entire society. All the articles discussed in this paper touch on the effects of information and communication technology on fields such as commerce, market structure, business models, labor market, workplace, education, private life and others. EndNote X1 is bibliographic software that is used in management of references. It helps researchers to find and format research materials eventually helping researchers save time. It has many advantages than disadvantages.
Reference List
EndNote X1, 2009. “Bibliographies Made Easy”. Web.
O’Connor, M. & Tom, N. 2010. “EndNote X1 for Mac OS X”. Web.