1.Reference
has to do with the semantics of language; access has to do with network architecture.
2.Successful
reference is part of a communication act between cognitive (language-using) agents. Successful access
requires neither cognition nor linguistic communication.
3.Access is
mediated by transmission over a communication network, and uses energy. Reference is not a physical relationship and does not require any supporting
architecture.
4.Only Ôinformation
resourcesÕ(?) can be accessed; anything at all can be referred to, even non-existent things.
5.Access, in
order to be useful, should be unambiguous. Reference to natural entities, in contrast, is inherently ambiguous.