Challenges of using metadata in a library setting: The Collection And Management of Electronic Links (CAMEL) project at Oregon State University

In late 1998, the Valley Library at Oregon State University embarked on a project to provide access to electronic resources in its catalog. This project, known as CAMEL (Collection And Management of Electronic Links), was started because students and faculty were increasingly relying on Web-based resources, but inadequate access was being provided to these resources. A small team was charged with developing a process that would help achieve the goals of better identifying and providing access to these resources in the online catalog. Because the quantity of information being provided in electronic form is expanding very rapidly, this team also investigated the possibilities of using metadata as well as other tools to reduce the need to manually create records for electronic resources. This paper outlines some of the social, technical, and organizational challenges encountered during the CAMEL project. Further information about CAMEL may be found at http://osu.orst.edu/dept/library/camel/.