CODATA is very pleased to share the news that our Senior Research Lead Dr. Laura Molloy will receive the 2021 ASIS&T ProQuest Doctoral Dissertation Award. Laura leads CODATA’s contribution to the FAIRsFAIR project, to the Terms4FAIRskills initiative and the relaunched CASRAI RDM Terminology.
She completed her thesis on ‘Creative Connections: The Value of Digital Information and its Effective Management for Sustainable Contemporary Visual Art Practice’ at the Oxford Internet Institute and the Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford. CODATA is delighted to see her research rewarded in this way.
Dr. Laura Molloy to Receive 2021 ASIS&T ProQuest Doctoral Dissertation Award
The Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) is delighted to announce that Dr. Laura Molloy of the University of Oxford the 2021 recipient of the ASIS&T ProQuest Doctoral Dissertation Award for her dissertation proposal titled, “Creative Connections: The Value of Digital Information and its Effective Management for Sustainable Contemporary Visual Art Practice.” The award’s purpose is to recognize outstanding recent doctoral candidates whose research contributes significantly to an understanding of some aspect of information science. The award is intended to encourage participation of new PhDs in the activities of a professional association by providing a forum for the presentation of their research and assisting them with some travel support.
Molloy was selected as the winner from among a pool of outstanding candidates who were judged based on these criteria: Importance of the topic to theory development and/or practical applications in information science; soundness of methodology; organization and clarity of the presentation; and quality of data (when applicable).
Molloy is a painter, illustrator and researcher, and her work has been commissioned by major clothing brands, record companies, and other large institutions as well as bands, theatre companies, and private individuals. Her interest is in creative practice both actively and theoretically, and she has brought these together in her dissertation at the Ruskin School of Art, the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford, and DACS. Dr. Molloy’s doctoral thesis uses an information science approach to understanding the everyday use of digital information and objects in contemporary visual art practice in the UK.
Professor Eric T. Meyer, Dr. Molloy’s primary dissertation supervisor at the University of Oxford and current Dean of The University of Texas at Austin School of Information, said of her work, “Dr. Molloy’s in-depth, detailed, and revealing research into the everyday use of digital information in contemporary visual art practice helps us not only understand ‘art work’ as information work, but also sets out policy recommendations for improving information training in art schools and for funders to recognize and fund infrastructure for digital object management in the arts.”
Upon learning of her selection as the 2021 ASIS&T ProQuest Doctoral Dissertation Award, Dr. Molloy said, “I am thrilled that my doctoral thesis has been chosen for the 2021 ASIS&T ProQuest Doctoral Dissertation Award. My project was an interdisciplinary study of the critical role of digital information for contemporary visual artists in their everyday worklife. To have my efforts recognised in this way by ASIS&T is so exciting and encouraging and I am deeply grateful to the jury.”
Dr. Molloy will receive her award at the 2021 meeting of the Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) which will be held October 29-November 2 in Salt Lake City, Utah.