Various pom.xml fixes

[Michael-A-McMahon]

This branch makes various improvements to the pom.xml file:

• Declaring plugin versions so that builds are consistent with different versions of maven
• Adds metadata for the project: name, description, url, etc
• Adds a "publication" profile that, when enabled, will generate javadoc and sources jar files during the package phase. This profile is intended to be used when publishing artifacts to Maven Central.

Also, shout out to @aalmiray for contributing a tremendous amount his knowledge and time while guiding me through these changes!