---
title: "About this infrastructure: Sandpoints"
date: "2023-06-29T18:35:24+03:00"
author: "anybody"
contributors: ["constantinos-miltiadis.md"]
draft: false
keywords:
  - journal info
---

[Hugo]: https://gohugo.io/ "Hugo is a free and open source static website builder."

# Outline

This project implements *Sandpoints*, an open source framework for open and collaborative publishing. It is developed by [Marcell Mars](https://gist.github.com/marcellmars/10392e6e784e8734efa307623833597b) since 2019, and built as a theme for the static website builder [Hugo][]. Both *Hugo* and *Sandpoints* are free, open source, and cross platform, and are developed in the programming language *Go*.

Key features: 
1. *Sandpoints* is an open infrastructure project: it hosts open access content; it is fully open source; it relies on open source components and libraries; and allows for workflows using free and open source tools.  
1. *Sandpoints* requires no programming. Content is added with ![Markdown files](article:md-formatting), which are easy to read, write, and edit, and organized in folders by type. Creating new content and compiling a website project are done with simple terminal commands, or via an online interface. 
4. *Sandpoints* implements hypertext, including backlinks (bidirectional hyperlinks), and allows non-linear content traversal, for example via browsing [internal, external, and back links](/urls/), as well as [keywords](/keywords). 
5. *Sandpoints* is structured around a triadic hierarchy, here this is *Journal>Issue>Article*.  
6. Collaboration, version control, and backup are achieved via Git. 
7. *Sandpoints* projects are fully portable. They can be copied on a USB stick and viewed offline. 
8. *Sandpoints* can generate printable and interactive PDFs for its content (for individual entries, issues, or all the content (see ![Print and Cite](article:print-cite)) .
9. *Sandpoints* allows the integration of a library catalogue. The library is accessible at [Library](/library/BROWSE_LIBRARY.html), or by pressing the red icon at the top-right corner of any page. 

Flagship *Sandpoints* projects include:
- [Dotawo -- A Journal of Nubian Studies](https://pages.sandpoints.org/dotawo/journal/)  (academic journal published in Sandpoints since issue 7, 2020),
- [Machine listening](https://machinelistening.exposed/curriculum/) (currently archived), 
- [Pirate.care](https://syllabus.pirate.care/) (a project using an earlier styling theme), and
- the recent [ACADIA archive](https://pages.sandpoints.org/sandpoints/acadiaarchive-46619c43/archive/acadia/) (in progress, featuring a catalogue of about 1500 articles and 2000 co-authors). 

# Sandpoints in academic publishing 

*Sandpoints* was first implemented in Issue 7 of the Journal *Dotawo* (2020).
The use of *Sandpoints* in academic research publishing was discussed in the editorial of that issue by Van Gerven Oei: 
 
> Starting with the present issue, _Dotawo_ will design and publish its content via the [Sandpoints](https://git.sandpoints.org/UnionForNubianStudies/Dotawo) platform. _Dotawo_ contributions are formatted in [Markdown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown) syntax, thus moving away from proprietary software such as Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign. For collaboration and version-control we employ [Git](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git) rather than Google Drive or Dropbox. The online issue is created via [Gitea](https://gitea.io/en-us/) and [Hugo][], which take the Markdown files from the Git repository and generate a static website from them. The result is a compact and fast website, which moreover can also be used offline. Also the typography of _Dotawo_ is now based on open fonts. The journal is typeset in [Gentium](https://software.sil.org/gentium/), which is released under an [SIL Open Font License](http://scripts.sil.org/ofl). The PDF output is generated by [PagedJS](https://www.pagedjs.org/) [...]. In short, all of the software used in the creation of _Dotawo_ is now open source. Although this process demands a certain amount of flexibility of the editors, it also shows that transitioning an open access journal to open infrastructure is not only possible but also feasible.[^vincent]

[^vincent]: [Preface by the Editor (Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei, Dotawo issue 7, 2020)](https://pages.sandpoints.org/dotawo/issue/dotawo7/). 


# Notes
- For an extended description of *Sandpoints* see [Sandpoints Portfolio (sandpoints.org)](https://pages.sandpoints.org/sandpoints/simplesandpoints-de47f813/draft/portfolio/), which includes descriptions of its implementation in different projects, and related bibliography. 
- [Sandoints (Gitea project repository)](https://git.sandpoints.org/Drawwell/). 
- See also ![](bib:ee04bbfe-e88e-40cb-9b13-b45de4fec4d7). 

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- See also Graziano, Valeria, Marcell Mars, and Medak Tomislav. ‘Learning from \Syllabus’. In _State Machines: Reflections and Actions at the Edge of Digital Citizenship, Finance, and Art_, edited by Yiannis Colakides, Marc Garrrett, and Inte Gloerich. Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures (Amsterdam, 2019. [http://www.statemachines.eu/books/state-machines-reflections-and-actions-at-the-edge-of-digital-citizenship-finance-and-art/](http://www.statemachines.eu/books/state-machines-reflections-and-actions-at-the-edge-of-digital-citizenship-finance-and-art/).-->