First employed at Ohio University, Michael Lorenzen became prominent in the library instruction field while employed as the Library Instruction Coordinator at Michigan State University from 1996-2003. While there, he published over 20 articles on library instruction and information literacy. He also was the main figure in the creation of the Tales from the MSU Stacks tutorial which won several national awards. Currently, Michael Lorenzen is Head of Reference at Central Michigan University.
Writings of Michael Lorenzen have been on library instruction, information literacy, and active learning. They have appeared in journals such as Library Journal, Illinois Libraries, Journal of Library Management, LOEX News, and Research Strategies. He also is the Executive Editor of Academic Exchange Quarterly.