We are delighted to announce the release of Manifold version 5.0, which is available for download here! The centerpiece of this release, a new Access Controls feature, will allow users to limit access to selected projects on a Manifold installation.

With this feature, publishers can switch on restricted access to any existing or new Manifold project, and can grant project access to any number of registered users on a Manifold site. The potential use cases are indeed manifold: Publishers of scholarly journals and conference proceedings can share publications with a base of subscribers or members. Teachers can create educational materials that can be shared only with students in a particular class. Works in progress can be shared with a select group of peer reviewers. Creators of collaborative projects can share drafts with a team for feedback. University presses can use Access Controls to serve exam and review copies or potentially offer paid access to course texts, opening up new revenue streams through the platform.

Here's to 2019! The Manifold Team sends good wishes to all as we head into the shortest day of the year and turn toward 2020. I've asked each team member to share a good memory from the year, a Manifold gift (be it moment with someone in the community, a favorite feature, a resolution). We're happy to be working together and with all of you.

Doug#

I’m excited that two of the “iterative,” work-in-progress book projects we launched in 2017 on the Manifold platform — Whitney Trettien’s Cut/Copy/Paste and Darren Wershler, Lori Emerson, and Jussi Parikka’s The Lab Book — are now on the verge of being completed projects, to be launched on the platform and in print this coming year.

In the last training of the season, Terence met with Jeff Gallant, Program Manager of Affordable Learning Georgia; Joy Woodson, Assistant Director for Marketing Communications; and Lucy Harrison, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Library Services and Executive Director of GALILEO.

Great to be back in Athens this week. Really looking forward to kicking off @ManifoldScholar training and talking about open textbooks with @jeffwgallant and the @ALearningGA team.

— Terence Smyre (@tremayning) November 19, 2019

Last week, Manifold Digital Projects Editor Terence was at the University of Georgia Press—the oldest and largest publisher in Georgia—exploring new digital initiatives and publishing models with Director Lisa Bayer and Executive Editor of Scholarly and Digital Publishing Mick Gusinde-Duffy.

Brisk morning here in Athens, GA. After an enlivening run in the hotel fitness center, I'm now getting ready to head over to @UGAPress for two great days of @ManifoldScholar training. All that thanks to @Mickodopolous for setting a fantastic schedule!

— Terence Smyre (@tremayning) November 13, 2019

Terence wasn’t the only one tweeting:

@ManifoldScholar training today with @tremayning @UGAPress. We’re learning how to create iterative #OpenAccess books in the beautiful @DigiLab_UGA pic.twitter.com/09SHkQOfnl

— Lisa Bayer (@lisambayer) November 13, 2019

This week we find Manifold Digital Projects Editor Terence in Atlanta meeting with Dr. Rosetta E. Ross. Dr. Ross, along with members of Spelman College's Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies and the Daughters of the African Atlantic community, is creating a new journal entitled Black Women and Religious Cultures. The journal seeks to examine the roles of religions, positively and negatively, in the lives of Black women, transnationally. In addition to publishing meeting proceedings from the Consultation of African and African Diasporan Women in Religion and Theology, the journal will include articles from participants in their growing community, facilitating an exchange of knowledge.

In this post, we find our digital projects editor, Terence, traveling to Houston, Texas, to meet with the Arte Público Press digital team: Executive Editor Gabriela Baeza Ventura, Carolina Villarroel of the Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage Project, and Digital Programs Manager Lorena Gauthereau. The conversation revolved primarily around their recovery mission, the presses digital initiatives, as well as intro publications aimed at younger members of the Latino community. And, of course, all the amazing cuisine that Houston has to offer.

This week brought Terence from one Manifold hub to another, New York City, to meet with Elizabeth Della Zazzera, Digital Producer, and Jaime Fuller, Web Editor, at Lapham’s Quarterly.

Not only did I have an awesome birthday last weekend, I'm now in NYC getting ready to meet with @ElizabethDZ and @laphamsquart to talk all things @ManifoldScholar. YES! And that's to say nothing of the impromptu team mtg. @jojokarlin and I had over dinner last night!

— Terence Smyre (@tremayning) October 9, 2019

In this post, we find our digital projects editor, Terence, traveling to the University of Kentucky to meet with Intermezzo editors Jeff Rice, Eric Detweiler, and Sergio C. Figueiredo. The conversation revolved around integrating Manifold with their series, which encourages writers to experiment with form, style, content, and approach to break down the barrier between the scholarly and the creative.

The Manifold team is delighted to announce the release of Manifold version 4.0. The hallmark features for this release are the addition of reading groups, which allow readers to annotate texts publicly, privately, or anonymously, and standalone mode, which allows creators to set up projects that appear without the library. We've also made notable strides in improving Manifold's accessibility and are now publishing docker images to Docker Hub.

This week we find our trusty digital projects editor on the road in East Lansing with Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Scott Schopieray, Kelly Sattler, and members of MESH at Michigan State University.

This is the life! I'm at the gate, ready to head out to East Lansing to talk @ManifoldScholar with @meshresearch. Looking forward to some exciting and productive meetings with @kfitz, @schopie1, @ksattler, and the rest of the team over the next few days!

— Terence Smyre (@tremayning) September 16, 2019

Just arrived on the beautiful Michigan State campus. Can't wait to start @ManifoldScholar training here with @meshresearch this morning.

— Terence Smyre (@tremayning) September 17, 2019