Dr. Torsten Reimer (he/him)

With twenty-five years in higher education, library and information management and digital innovation, I am working to build an open information environment that serves everyone.

Current role

Currently, I am University Librarian and Dean of the University Library at the University of Chicago. Reporting to the Provost, I am overseeing the operation of the university library and leading the process of developing and implementing a comprehensive strategic vision for the library's future within the university and the global knowledge system.

Previous roles

Most recently, I was Head of Content and Research Services at the British Library. Reporting to the Chief Librarian, I was responsible for ensuring that contemporary collections and research services met the needs of knowledge seekers and research organisations from the UK and abroard. This included overseeing functions such as: development and implementation of the Library's Content Strategy and Research Services Strategy; content acquisitions and processing of print and digital content, including legal deposit; preservation and management of the digital collections; the subject librarians; digital research services ranging from discovery to repositories, scholarly communications and research data, including the UK DataCite consortium; the redevelopment of the BL's digital library system; and a strategic change management portfolio to modernise our online and onsite research services.

Before joining the British Library, I oversaw the development of open access and research data services at Imperial College London. At Jisc, the UK's digital service provider for higher and further education, I was Programme Manager for digital infrastructure, managing programmes and innovation projects across the UK, including multi-million pound services such as the National Grid Service and the National Centre for Text Mining.

My background is in history, with a PhD from the University of Munich (LMU), and digital humanities and scholarly communications. At LMU I co-founded digital library services in the late 90s that today receive federal funding as part of the national information infrastructure of Germany. At King's College London, I was senior coordinator for a national network on digital research methods in the arts and humanities, and I developed digital community services and infrastructures at the Centre for E-Research.

External and community roles

Over the years, I have engaged with a range of communities and external organisations. Some of these activities include:

Talks and Keynotes

I regularly speak about information management, library services and topics such as scholarly communications and research infrastructures. Recent talks include: