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Colin Rhinesmith

Associate Professor of Information Sciences, iSchool at Illinois

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Community Informatics

Digital Equity Ecosystems Book Cover

Posted on September 30, 2025October 17, 2025 by Colin Rhinesmith

The University of California Press has been absolutely wonderful to work with in designing the cover for my new book, titled Digital Equity Ecosystems: How Community Coalitions Reduce Inequality and Strengthen Democracy. Many thanks to Vanessa Rhinesmith for helping to inform the design, which is represented in this final version below! The image in the…

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“The Ability to Pay for Broadband” Now Open Access

Posted on June 18, 2025June 18, 2025 by Colin Rhinesmith

I am thrilled to announce that our 2019 paper, titled “The Ability to Pay for Broadband” (Rhinesmith, Reisdorf, & Bishop) is now open open access in Communication Research and Practice. As I described in a previous post after the article was published, “In our recent paper, published in a special issue of Communications Research and…

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New Article in Journal of Participatory Research Methods

Posted on May 26, 2025May 27, 2025 by Colin Rhinesmith

I’m absolutely thrilled to share the news that Sangha Kang-Le and I have a new peer-reviewed article that’s just been published in the Journal of Participatory Research Methods. The article, titled “Understanding the Value of a Digital Equity Researcher-Practitioner Collaboration Using Participatory Action Research,” presents an in-depth analysis of the participatory approach we used to…

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20th Anniversary Issue of The Journal of Community Informatics Published

Posted on December 7, 2024 by Colin Rhinesmith

I am thrilled to announce that Peter Johnson and I just published the 20th anniversary special issue of The Journal of Community Informatics. As we explained in our editorial, the first issue of The Journal of Community Informatics was published by Michael Gurstein on October 1, 2004. Since then the journal has remained an open…

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Call for Submissions: 20th Anniversary Issue of The Journal of Community Informatics

Posted on January 20, 2024 by Colin Rhinesmith

Call for Submissions: 20th Anniversary Issue of The Journal of Community Informatics Community informatics (CI) is the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to support community-defined development goals. It is a multidisciplinary field that includes researchers and practitioners from information studies, social work, rural sociology, public policy, urban planning, among other areas. Similar to…

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Community Informatics and AI

Posted on December 31, 2023 by Colin Rhinesmith

(Lego Mesh Wireless Network at the 2011 Allied Media Conference photo by Colin Rhinesmith) [Editorial re-posted from The Journal of Community Informatics] In yesterday’s Op-Ed, titled “For all the hype in 2023, we still don’t know what AI’s long-term impact will be” written by Open University Professor John Naughton and published in The Guardian, Naughton…

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New Report Highlights Participatory Action Research Project with Tech Goes Home

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Colin Rhinesmith

Over the past year, my team and I at the Digital Equity Research Center at METRO co-led a participatory action research project with Tech Goes Home (TGH). The purpose of the study was to develop a theory of change for TGH, as well as an analysis of the challenges and opportunities facing community-based organizations in…

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New Book Contract with UC Press!

Posted on August 16, 2023 by Colin Rhinesmith

I am incredibly honored and excited to announce that I have just signed a contract for my new book to be published by the University of California Press! The title of the book is Digital Equity Ecosystems and will be published as part of the UC Press Technology Studies list. The book builds on the…

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Community Informatics Research Network (CIRN) Nodes

Posted on November 12, 2022 by Colin Rhinesmith

During the closing session, titled “Drawing it all together; conference statements; 2023” at this year’s 20th Annual CIRN conference, attendees discussed their ideas about how we might continue the energy from the annual conference and stay more connected to and engaged with one another throughout the year. Larry Stillman from Monash University also asked if…

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20th Community Informatics Research Network Conference

Posted on May 28, 2022 by Colin Rhinesmith

20 YEARS OF CIRNExamining the past, present, and future of communities and technologyConference | 9 – 11 November 2022, Monash University, Prato, Italy. The theme of the 2022 conference, 20 years of CIRN: Examining the past, present and future of communities and technology aims to both look back at 20 years of the Prato conferences…

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I'm an associate professor and director of the Digital Equity Action Research (DEAR) Lab in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. My bio is here.
New Book! Coming June 2026
Blue water in estuary surrounded by greenery and a flock of white birds seen from above.
Invited Book Talks
  • February 18, 2026 - Quello Center, Michigan State University

Recent Posts

  • Book Blurbs for Digital Equity Ecosystems
  • Invited Book Talk at MSU Quello Center
  • Mobile Media & Communication Article Now Open Access
  • Book Listed in Spring UC Press Catalog
  • Elected to iSchools Board of Directors

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About Me

Dr. Colin Rhinesmith (he/they) is Associate Professor and Director of the Digital Equity Action Research (DEAR) Lab in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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