diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 7317e997..236385f3 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,40 @@
+6.0.0-m2 (2018-11-30)
+---------------------
+
+- Add  `S3Handle` ([#33](https://github.com/ome/ome-common-java/pull/33))
+  * Add `minio` as a dependency
+  * Add `exists()` method to `IRandomAccess` and all implementations
+  * Add unit tests and update Travis to start a S3 server and run all tests
+- NIOFileHandle: don't read from the file to fill a trash buffer ([#34](https://github.com/ome/ome-common-java/pull/34))
+- Add initial API for downsampling images ([#35](https://github.com/ome/ome-common-java/pull/35))
+  * add `IImageScaler` interface
+  * add `SimpleImageScaler` implementation
+- Attempt to check for incorrect length after RandomAccessFile.setLength ([#29](https://github.com/ome/ome-common-java/pull/29))
+- StreamHandle: fix subtle bug when seeking more than 1 MB backward ([#22](https://github.com/ome/ome-common-java/pull/22))
+- Add `skipBytes(long)` method to `IRandomAccess` and all implementations ([#27](https://github.com/ome/ome-common-java/pull/27))
+
+
+5.3.7 (2018-10-12)
+------------------
+
+- Reduce memory usage when reading large text files ([#24](https://github.com/ome/ome-common-java/pull/24))
+- `DataTools`: fix bug in scientific notation parsing ([#30](https://github.com/ome/ome-common-java/pull/30))
+- Deprecate `CaseInsensitiveLocation`([#31](https://github.com/ome/ome-common-java/pull/31))
+
+
+5.3.6 (2018-08-02)
+------------------
+
+- Fix Javadoc warnings ([#26](https://github.com/ome/ome-common-java/pull/26))
+- Build and Maven updates ([#25](https://github.com/ome/ome-common-java/pull/25), [#28](https://github.com/ome/ome-common-java/pull/28))
+
+
+5.3.5 (2018-03-05)
+------------------
+
+- Update Maven plugin versions ([#16](https://github.com/ome/ome-common-java/pull/16))
+
+
 5.3.4 (2018-01-04)
 ------------------
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4132160b..190457c0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -20,18 +20,11 @@ Pull request testing
 We welcome pull requests from anyone, but ask that you please verify the
 following before submitting a pull request:
 
- * verify that the branch merges cleanly into ```develop```
- * verify that the branch compiles with the ```clean jars tools``` Ant targets
- * verify that the branch compiles using Maven
- * verify that the branch does not use syntax or API specific to Java 1.8+
- * run the unit tests (```ant test```) and correct any failures
- * test at least one file in each affected format, using the ```showinf```
-   command
- * internal developers only: [run the data
-   tests](http://www.openmicroscopy.org/site/support/bio-formats/developers/commit-testing.html)
-   against directories corresponding to the affected format(s)
- * make sure that your commits contain the correct authorship information and,
-   if necessary, a signed-off-by line
+ * verify that the branch merges cleanly into ```master```
+ * verify that the branch builds using Maven
+ * verify that the branch does not use syntax or API specific to Java 1.9+
+ * run the unit tests (```mvn test```) and correct any failures
+ * make sure that your commits contain the correct authorship information
  * make sure that the commit messages or pull request comment contains
    sufficient information for the reviewer(s) to understand what problem was
    fixed and how to test it
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index d29419a3..5e3d66ab 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -193,10 +193,10 @@
 	<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
         <version>3.7.0</version>
-        <!-- Require the Java 7 platform. -->
+        <!-- Require the Java 8 platform. -->
         <configuration>
-          <source>1.7</source>
-          <target>1.7</target>
+          <source>1.8</source>
+          <target>1.8</target>
         </configuration>
       </plugin>
 
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@
         <configuration>
           <failOnError>false</failOnError>
           <links>
-            <link>http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/</link>
+            <link>http://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/</link>
           </links>
         </configuration>
         <executions>