Prof. Mel Collier University of Leuven, Belgium

Mel Collier is Chief Librarian at Leuven University and the former Director of Library and Information Services at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. Until July 2006 he was also part-time Research Professor at the University of Northumbria. Formerly he was Director of Strategic and Operational Planning at Dawson Holdings PLC... read moreand also Head of Division of Learning Development at De Montfort University, responsible for libraries, information technology and educational development. He holds a degree in Arabic, speaks French and Dutch and has a working knowledge of German. Since the early seventies Prof. Collier has been active in research into the applications of information technology to information services. He directed several major national and European research projects, written and collaborated in numerous research reports, and edited works and journal articles. He has served on a number of professional, national and international bodies including JISC, the Library and Information Commission and the UKB (Netherlands) and was chairman of the Library and Information Advisory Committee of the British Council.