I have a new chapter published in Civic Media: Technology, Design, Practice by The MIT Press and edited by Eric Gordon and Paul Mihailidis. The chapter, titled “Community Media Infrastructure as Civic Engagement,” highlights the community needs assessment process in local communications infrastructure development in the United States as a form of civic engagement, which I argue we must fight…
Joining the Faculty in Simmons SLIS
I am thrilled to announce that I will be joining the faculty in the School of Library and Information Science at Simmons College as a Senior Lecturer beginning July 1st. Here is an excerpt from the Simmons SLIS press release: Dr. Colin Rhinesmith comes to Simmons with a broad teaching portfolio that includes graduate and undergraduate courses,…
Investigating Rural Library Hotspot Lending Programs
I am excited to announce that my colleagues, Dr. Sharon Strover (University of Texas at Austin), Dr. Brian Whitacre (Oklahoma State University) and I received a $496,586 grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services for our research project, titled “At the Edges of the National Digital Platform: Rural Library Hotspot Lending Programs.”…
New Article Published in Telecommunications Policy
My colleague, Brian Whitacre (Oklahoma State University) and I have a new article that was just published in Telecommunications Policy. The paper, titled “Broadband un-adopters” describes findings from our recent study of households that lost their broadband Internet service at home. The article also provides recommendations to federal policymakers interested in developing programs to assist low-income residents and seniors in…
NTEN Webinar on Digital Inclusion Research
I’m excited to announce that I’ll be presenting my Benton Foundation research on “Digital Inclusion and Meaningful Broadband Adoption initiatives” as part of a free upcoming NTEN webinar on Wednesday, February 17th. Here’s the announcement from NTEN’s website: Join us as we discuss the findings in recently published Digital Inclusion and Meaningful Broadband Adoption Initiatives Report, released by the Benton…
Interview with Craig Settles on Gigabit Nation
My colleague, Brian Whitacre and I had a great discussion with Craig Settles yesterday on his show Gigabit Nation. We talked about our recent research and recommendations to promote meaningful broadband adoption. Here’s a bit from the show description. Rhinesmith and Whitacre describe one category of people who don’t use broadband as the Un-Adopters, and present why policymakers and…
New Report: Digital Inclusion and Meaningful Broadband Adoption Initiatives
I am thrilled to announce the release of my new report for the Benton Foundation, titled “Digital Inclusion and Meaningful Broadband Adoption Initiatives.” The executive summary and a link to the full report are available on the Benton Foundation’s website. Research for the report began late last July, when I started my travels across the US…
New Article Published in The Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults
I’m excited to announce that my students and I have a new co-authored article, which was published today in the Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults. The paper, which is titled “YouthStudio: Designing Public Library YA Spaces with Teens,” provides a critical pedagogical and participatory methodological approach to designing public library young adult…
New Co-edited Special Issue for JoCI
The new issue of the Journal of Community Informatics was just published. The special issue features eight research articles and three “notes from the field” that examine Research Methods for Community Informatics. The issue features an exciting range of insights that should be useful to researchers and practitioners alike. This was my first experience co-editing a journal issue, and…
New Article Published in Government Information Quarterly
Brian Whitacre (Oklahoma State University) and I have a new article in Government Information Quarterly, which describes our findings from a recent study on public libraries and broadband adoption. Unfortunately, the paper is behind a paywall. But you can read about the study and its findings in a new piece that we have up on…