Embedded Files
Before turning to fiction, I spent three decades researching information science and international development. From 2008 to 2025 I was on the faculty of the University of Washington Information School. Earlier work took place at IDRC in Ottawa and with universities and research centers across Latin America. My publications from 1993 to 2025 include journal articles, conference papers, edited volumes, book chapters, monographs, and reports.
The research follows several connected questions: who can access information, whose knowledge is recorded, how technologies shape daily life, and what communities do when a system does not serve them.
Research themes
Public access computing — Libraries, telecentres, and cybercafés as places where people without personal computers could get online, including a 25-country landscape study.
ICT4D evaluation and theory — Critical work on whether information and communication technologies deliver the benefits promised in development projects, including the “Aunt Ofelia” letters written twenty years apart.
Colombia and Latin America — ICT policy, social appropriation, and community impact, often published in English and Spanish.
Migration, borders, and information practices — How undocumented migrants at the U.S.–Mexico border find information, navigate surveillance, and work with humanitarian organizations; this collaboration produced the Mind the Five privacy framework.
Participatory photography — Fotohistorias and Photostories as visual research methods developed with migrants, Indigenous communities, and other groups whose stories are rarely told in their own terms.
Indigenous communities and community development — Information systems developed with Tseltal Maya communities in Chiapas and Indigenous communities in the Colombian Amazon, bringing together radio, libraries, and participatory planning.
Technology pushback and refusal — How and why people resist constant online presence, challenging the assumption that more connectivity is always better.
Latinx academia and sanctuary — The experiences of Latinx faculty, staff, and students, and research on sanctuary during the first Trump administration.
FEatured Academic Books
FEatured Academic Books
Photostories
Photostories
A method for participatory photography in social science research, built over two decades of fieldwork with migrant, Indigenous and marginalized communities. Ethics International Press, 2024.
Resilience
Resilience
Oral histories of Latinx students and alumni at the University of Washington, read alongside the immigration enforcement that shadows their families. Ethics International Press, 2023.
LatinX Experience
in Academia
LatinX Experience
in Academia
The professional journeys of Latinx faculty at the University of Washington, from hiring and tenure to mentorship and institutional change. Independently published, 2020.
LatinX @ UW
LatinX @ UW
Stories and photos of Latino and Latina students, staff, faculty and alumni at the University of Washington, told in English and Spanish. Independently published, 2018.
More Books based on Research and Community Work
More Books based on Research and Community Work
Libraries, Telecentres, Cybercafes and Public Access to ICT: International Comparisons — edited by Ricardo Gómez. IGI Global, 2012. A 25-country study of the libraries, telecentres and cybercafés where people without their own computers get online.
Más que teclas y pantallas: Acceso público a TIC en Colombia — Luis Fernando Barón y Ricardo Gómez. Universidad Icesi, 2014. Bibliotecas, telecentros y cibercafés en Colombia y su papel en la inclusión digital.
Fotohistorias: Participatory photography and the experience of migration — Ricardo Gómez and Sara Vannini, 2015. Bilingual photos and stories from migrants in Nogales, Seattle, Cali and Bahía Málaga.
Stories of Mi-Gra-Tion: a flip-flap book — Ricardo Gómez and A. Tamayo, 2016. A flip-flap book of migration stories, also published in Spanish.
Ríos que convergen — Ricardo Gómez, Mauricio Beltrán y Luz Andrea Galán. Fundación Colombia Multicolor, 2022. La experiencia de un diplomado en liderazgo, comunicación y cambio climático con comunidades indígenas del Vaupés, Colombia.
Life Histories of Labor and Resilience: 25 Years of Casa Latina in Seattle — Yvette Iribe Ramírez and Ricardo Gómez. Casa Latina, 2019.
Letter to Aunt Ofelia: Seven Proposals for Human Development Using New ICTs — Ricardo Gómez and B. Casadiego. IDRC, 2002. Also in Spanish as Carta a la Tía Ofelia.
Internet… why? and what for? Thoughts on ICT for development in Latin America and the Caribbean — Ricardo Gómez and J. Martínez. IDRC, 2001. Also in Spanish as Internet: ¿para qué? and in French.
Community Telecentres for Development: Lessons from community telecentres in Latin America and the Caribbean — K. Delgadillo, Ricardo Gómez and K. Stoll. IDRC and Fundación Chasquinet, 2002. Also in Spanish as Telecentros… ¿para qué? and in Portuguese.
Facing the Screen: ICTs in Latin America and the Caribbean; a visual journey — Ricardo Gómez, M. Beltrán and Y. Beaulieu. IDRC, 2003. A bilingual English and Spanish photo book (Frente a la pantalla).
Stories of Resilience and Community: 30 Years of Casa Latina in Greater Seattle — Luz Mendoza García, Yvette Iribe Ramírez, Gabriela Reyes and Ricardo Gómez. Casa Latina, 2024.
The Chiapas series · Serie Chiapas
Trilingual books (Tseltal, Spanish, English) from the Tseltal Information and Evaluation System, made with Tseltal Maya communities in Chiapas and published by One Equal Heart Foundation:
Lekil Cuxlejalil: Vivir Plenamente / Living Fully (2017)
Voz de Mujer / Women's Words (2017)
Radio Ach' Lequilc'op: Voice of Tseltal Maya Communities (2018)
Cuidadores de la Madre Tierra / Caretakers of Mother Earth (2018)
How-To Guide: use AI to help you write your memoir
How-To Guide: use AI to help you write your memoir
Your Story Matters
Your Story Matters
A Friendly Guide to Writing Your Memoir with AI
A Friendly Guide to Writing Your Memoir with AI
Your grandchildren deserve to know your story. This friendly guide shows how to use AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude as patient interviewers and editors, from the first conversation to a finished, self-published book, without giving up your own voice. In Spanish: Ponlo en Palabras.
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