In this installment of Travels with Terence, we find our resident digital projects editor still in Washington, DC, turning his attention from George Washington University eastward to the Gallaudet University Press. The Gallaudet University Press, whose advocacy for the deaf community aligns with Manifold’s commitment to supporting scholarship across forms and modes of communication, was prepped and ready for Terence’s visit: Deirdre Mullervy, GUP’s managing editor, had already loaded four projects of their projects into the system prior to his arrival (and secured some of the yummiest banana bread around)!

Great @ManifoldScholar morning here at @GallaudetPress! Getting ready to pick up after lunch, diving into project creation and a plate of banana bread.

— Terence Smyre (@tremayning) August 29, 2019

Normally the training program follows a discrete set of sessions where we consider topics from editorial workflow to branding, but with all the work the team had done before Terence showed up, they were able to transform the training into a hands-on workshop. After he guided them through an introduction to the platform’s history, current functionality, and walkthrough of the backend on the first day, he turned the driver’s seat over to Katie Lee, the resident acquisitions editor, and Angela Leppig, GUP’s interim director, to create and customize new projects of their own over the course of day 2.

Terence remarked:

While it’s always a boon to have someone walk you through something new in person, it’s something else entirely to go back to your own station and take that on yourself. Having the time to be able to do that here together was crucial to our conversation. As Angela and Katie worked, we found ourselves exploring new questions and avenues of inquiry that will, I believe, help enrich their experience with Manifold. And, it was just fun to be able to let the conversation flow to any and all things publishing—whether that was to talking through the elements of EPUB files to some of the nuances of different systems of sign language. From marketing, Valencia Simmons—who graciously took time from her hard-earned vacation hours to be present—remarked how important it was for her to see and take part in these conversations to leverage the system to its fullest capability. Truly, this was a fantastic trip filled with really interesting and important discussion.

Getting ready to start in on our second day of @ManifoldScholar training here at @GallaudetPress! pic.twitter.com/QHxrjVGS4b

— Terence Smyre (@tremayning) August 30, 2019

Gallaudet University Press commented:

We are so thrilled to be selected to join Manifold's pilot program. The visual elements that Manifold integrates with text will allow us to better produce bilingual content in American Sign Language and English, which supports our mission and will improve the reading experiences of our audience members. We are also excited about the possibilities of using Manifold to streamline our peer review process, making it faster and more efficient.

Gallaudet University Press “is a vital, self-supporting member of the Gallaudet educational and scholarly community. The mission of the Press is to disseminate knowledge about deaf and hard of hearing people, their languages, their communities, their history, and their education through print and electronic media.” Read more on their website, or connect with Gallaudet University Press on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

• Miles Travelled: 929
• Culinary highlights: On day 2 Terence and the team struck out for Israeli street food at nearby Shouk, where he had a Shouk Burger. Bound with flaxseed, composed of chickpeas, and covered in the most amazing tahina sauce, this was a treat of a meal.
• Taking in the View: Terence normally endeavors to explore the cities he's visiting when he has free time in the evening, but with all the running and walking he did during the day, he found it rather pleasant to be able to simply enjoy his book (John Langan’s The Fisherman) on his hotel’s rooftop bar as the sun set and the traffic hummed down below.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to reach out on the Manifold Community Slack channel, tweet us at @manifoldscholar, and follow along with Manifold Scholar on Github for more details and to request features.