1 Title: Building a Local CMS at Kent State. Authors: Rick Wiggins, Jeph Remley, and Tom Klingler. About the authors: Rick Wiggins is Web Programmer, Libraries & Media Services, Jeph Remley is Multimedia/Web Developer, Libraries & Media Services, and Tom Klingler is Assistant Dean for Technical Services, Libraries & Media Services, Kent State University. Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the creation of a Content Management System (CMS) for the Kent State University Libraries & Media Services web site. It describes the requirements for the site and for the CMS, the CMS architecture and components. Design/methodology/approach – This paper describes the genesis and architecture of a locally-written CMS that is strongly focused on metadata. Findings – A review of local, library-specific needs combined with a review of the product universe resulted in the decision to write a local CMS. Practical implications – Includes enumerated goals and requirements for a database- driven and metadata-focused web site. Originality/value – Describes the creation of tools for data management in a locally- written CMS. Keywords – CMS, Content Management System, metadata, library web site. Paper type – Technical Background The first generation Kent State University Libraries & Media Services web site was a small accumulation of static pages. The second generation site, in place from the late 1990s through the early 2000s, responded annually to millions of page requests. In the early 2000s, the web team, a subset of the Systems Department staff, began to realize that the site had a long way to go in terms of data consistency, presentation consistency, and automation. The team began to hatch the idea to build a new, fully-automated site. A better site needed better control over presentation to achieve a more professional,