Paolo Tinti, after completing the post-graduate Library and Archive School at the University of Rome «La Sapienza» (2003), was awarded his doctorate at the University of Florence (2007) with a thesis on the first edition of Leon Battista Alberti's "Opera" (Florence, 1499 ca.). In November 2006 he was appointed Assistant professor of Bibliography and Library Studies in the Department of Classical Philology and Italian Studies at the University of Bologna. In 2015 he was promoted to Associate professor and in 2021 he received the abilitation to be appointed as a full professor. He is director of the committee for the Centre for Research in Bibliography (CERB – Centro di Ricerca in Bibliografia) and is president of the council for the Biblioteca Umanistica "E. Raimondi", Bologna. He is also a member of the council of the University Library in Bologna.
He has published a catalogue of the rare books (15th-18th century) in the Library of the Liceo Muratori, Modena, catalogues of other collections of incunabula, such as the Forni collection in the Estense library at Modena, and has written extensively on library history. He is interested in the history of books and publishing, in addition to other aspects of library science, including the theory of library catalogues and the management of special collections, like rare books and manuscripts, preservation, bibliographic control, and use of such materials in all types of libraries. He has collaborated actively with some of the main Italian and foreign journals in the field. He is director of the series «Bibliography and Stories of books and printing» (Forni, Sala Bolognese) and «Impronte/Imprints» (CLUEB, Bologna).
He is a member of the Deputazione di storia patria per le antiche province modenesi, the Deputazione di storia patria per le province di Romagna, the Accademia Pascoliana, and the Bibliographical Society, London.
From 2006 he has been a member of the council for the doctorate in Literary and Philological Cultures (University of Bologna) and, from 2009, the council for the doctorate in Library and Archival Sciences (University of Rome, La Sapienza).
He has founded and from 2019 is chief editor of "TECA - Testimonianze, Editoria, Cultura, Arte", an international, open access journal on the history of writing, books, and libraries.
He was awarded the "Premio Firenze" for his book "Pascoli e gli editori", 2012 (together with M.G. Tavoni) and the "Io amo i beni culturali" prize, 2017, in the libraries and archive section.