Lorraine Bearda

Lorraine is Head of Digital Services and Technologies at The University of Manchester, where she is responsible for leading a team which manages and develops the Library's eLibrary infrastructure, digitisation infrastructure, the Library Management System and the Institutional Repository. Lorraine is a member of both the Library Leadership Team and the IT Leadership Team for the University of Manchester and in these roles has been involved in the development of the Library and IT Strategies for the University. Recently Lorraine has been closely involved in improving the user experience at Manchester by implementing vertical search and delivering more Library services through the University's portal. She has led the development of the Library's digitisation strategy and led the team which has developed the University's institutional repository, Manchester eScholar, which is now one of the largest in the UK. Lorraine is a member of the SCARLET Project Board.

Lorraine has had various roles in academic libraries over the last 18 years, including Faculty Librarian and Electronic Resources Librarian. Before pursuing a career in libraries, Lorraine worked for several years in biological sciences research, after finishing her degree in biology at the University of Manchester