School of Information Sciences

SLA honors alum with Engineering Librarian of the Year award

James Blank (MS '97) is the recipient the of the Special Libraries Association (SLA) Engineering Librarian of the Year Award. The Engineering Librarian of the Year, sponsored by IHS, highlights the accomplishments and contributions of SLA Engineering Division members to the engineering librarian profession.

Blank is a technical knowledge specialist in the engineering library at Caterpillar Inc. Since joining Caterpillar in 2000, his responsibilities have included many library functions, such as cataloging, acquisitions, collection development, and website administration. He currently has responsibility for performing in-depth research, administering access to industry standards, and serving as a knowledge management steward, among other duties.

IHS will present Blank with the award and a $1500 check during the Engineering Division Luncheon & Business Meeting, held Monday July 16, 2012 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

SLA was founded in 1909 and is an international association of nearly 9,000 information professionals working in corporate, academic, government or non-profit organizations and institutions.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Meet the iSchool undergraduate advising team

The iSchool welcomed five staff members to its undergraduate advising team this academic year. Academic Advisors and Coordinators Cory Castaneda, Dara (DL) Lawyer, and Keri Marion joined the School in August, and Katie Murphy joined in February. Stacy Clemmons was promoted to senior advisor and coordinator and transitioned from graduate to undergraduate student advising. 

Seo selected as CAS Beckman Fellow

Assistant Professor JooYoung Seo has been selected as a Center for Advanced Study (CAS) Beckman Fellow for the 2026-2027 academic year. CAS is one of the most prestigious faculty recognition programs at the University of Illinois. Its primary mission is to identify and support the most productive and innovative faculty across all disciplines. CAS Fellows are nominated by their unit heads and selected by the Center's permanent faculty through a competitive review process, with final approval by the Board of Trustees. 

JooYoung Seo

Spectrum Scholar Spotlight: Nathaniel Allen Pila

Eight iSchool master's students have been named 2025–2026 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association. This "Spectrum Scholar Spotlight" series highlights the School's scholars. MSLIS student Nathaniel Allen Pila earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Mount Holyoke College.

Nathaniel Allen Pila

Get to know Eugene Gurevich, analyst

In his role as analyst at Nicor Gas, Eugene Gurevich (BSIS '23) is making sure the natural gas system that millions of people use stays safe and dependable. He credits the iSchool with teaching him technical skills—such as how to clean, transform, and visualize data—as well as how to communicate effectively with different audiences. Gurevich encourages current students to "explore unconventional career paths."

Eugene Gurevich

Wang receives AccessComputing funding for video game project

Informatics PhD student Olive Wang has been awarded a minigrant by AccessComputing, an organization that supports people with disabilities in computing. The $5,000 grant will support Wang's work on the video game Loadouts, which teaches players why accessibility is important. In the game, players learn why video games are inaccessible for players who are low-vision and how accessibility features such as high contrast, auditory cues, and multimodality can be effective.

Olive Wang

School of Information Sciences

501 E. Daniel St.

MC-493

Champaign, IL

61820-6211

Voice: (217) 333-3280

Email: ischool@illinois.edu

Back to top