Melissa Burel has a bachelors degree in music and a masters degree in oboe performance from Western Michigan University. She received her Masters in Library and Information Science from Wayne State University. While pursuing her second masters, Melissa worked as a copy cataloger at Florida State University, cataloging various formats of materials including metadata for digital collections. She is currently the Catalog Librarian at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Her current research interests include assessment relating to the value of the library in the university, information needs of patrons, and effective uses of the catalog as well as the role of the library catalog in the larger context of linked data. Melissa places a high value on authority work and ensuring policies and procedures are in place that serve the needs of the institution.