Noerr was born in March 1946 in Leicester, England, and grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa, to where his family moved in 1951.
He then spent three years consulting for academic, national library and IGO clients in all parts of the world.
During this time he started his one library automation systems company Information Management and Engineering Ltd (IME) in the UK.
Noerr was widely regarded as a pioneer in information retrieval and software development.
[2] He and his wife, Kathleen T. Noerr, were involved in two ventures: IME Ltd. and MuseGlobal Inc.