School of Information Sciences

GSLIS instructor honored with Nancy B. Olson Award

Robert L. Bothmann, an adjunct instructor at GSLIS, has been awarded the 2012 Nancy B. Olson Award. The annual award, sponsored by the Online Audiovisual Catalogers (OLAC) network, recognizes a librarian who has made significant contributions to the advancement and understanding of audiovisual cataloging and electronic resources. Bothmann was recognized for his multiple leadership roles in OLAC and other national organizations, for educating colleagues and teaching future generations of librarians cataloging rules, as well his intellectual contributions to the field.

Bothmann teaches Cataloging and Classification I and II via LEEP for GSLIS. He is also an adjunct instructor at the School of Information Studies (SOIS) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In addition to teaching, Bothmann works as the metadata and emerging technologies librarian at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

He is the coauthor of Cataloging of Audiovisual Materials and Other Special Materials (5th ed.) and other various publications. He received his MLIS from SOIS, and also has a Master of Science in Cross-disciplinary Studies: Geography & English Technical Communication from Minnesota State University, Mankato. 

The annual award is named after Nancy B. Olson, the founder and first chair of OLAC, and an acknowledged expert of non-book cataloging. To learn more about this award, and see a list of past recipients visit their website.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

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

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. 

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

iSchool participation in iConference 2026

The following iSchool faculty and students will participate in iConference 2026, which will be held virtually from March 23–26 and physically from March 29–April 2 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The theme of this year's conference is "Information Literacies, Authenticity and Use: The Move Towards a Digitally Enlightened Society."

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