The majority of our users are working in our Documentation Department, which is part of our Operations Division. The departments in which CIS-Net tools are used include:
Documentation Department - This is the largest CIS-Net user department, with the key function being Documentation Research. There are a number of different sections or teams in this department, each handling different aspects of documentation.
Music Usage Administration - A few users in this department use CIS-Net powered by FastTrack, primarily for the identification of musical works, rather than primary research.
Writer Services Department - We have a few CIS-Net users in this department as well, specifically in the Query Resolution section.
By far, the top two CIS-Net applications used by us are MWI and the AVI. A large percentage of commercial music usage in radio and public performance in South Africa is of foreign origin, and, accordingly, we are very reliant on the musical work nodes of CIS-Net for authoritative documentation. The IPI application is also very useful, even though, for a quick enquiry, we can refer to our internal copy of the IPI, which is connected to our active works database and refreshed daily. The AGM application is not widely used by us at present, as our sub-publisher contracts are presently located in a separate, internal contract database. Our users have, however, commented on the usefulness of the CIS-Net agreement information provided by the current contributing societies.
Prior to CIS-Net, the WID was the main research tool for documentation of international works and, in the case of societies who historically did not contribute to the WID, we had to rely on publisher information or work registration information directly from societies. Our performance-capturing and documentation-research business processes were consequently developed to cater to this. With the introduction of CIS-Net powered by FastTrack, we initially had a small “expert” research group with access to CIS-Net. In the past two years, however, we have changed our business processes, with CIS-Net now rolled out to all documentation research staff.
B
andwidth is limited in Africa — including Southern Africa — and therefore the overall performance of CIS-Net in our environment is not what we know it should be. In spite of this, the benefits of using CIS-Net far outweigh the performance issues. We still use the DVD-Rom applications of the WID, AVI and IPI, primarily due to the superior speed that these applications offer, but CIS-Net is now our official, primary research tool.
We have not had the benefit of any formal CIS-Net-specific training by FastTrack or CISAC tutors, but with the guidance provided by our managers and supervisors, as well as other international support, our users are very comfortable and enjoy using CIS-Net in their daily work.
— Christine Reddy
Manager, International Affairs
SAMRO
« Back to Home