The Lyford Project is not a digital archive. Rather, it is a collection of digital liberal arts research sub-projects that make use of the digitized Lyford Collection, which is part of the holdings of the Boston Athenaeum. The Lyford Project's Digital Archive, hosted by Omeka, is the foundation of the Lyford Project. Unlike a Google Site, Omeka provides the advantage of metadata, which will make the Lyford Project's Digital Archive a valuable resource for research by faculty and students at Hope College and, in the future, scholars from other institutions. The Digital Archive's metadata will ensure robust data management, consistent definitions, clear relationships between items and collections, and usage tracking—all of which are particularly important given the Lyford Project's multiple investigators and sub-projects. The use of the Omeka platform makes the Digital Archive an appropriate resource for serious research, and the Lyford Project's sub-projects make this resource available to varied audiences.

 

For Hope College, the Lyford Project's Digital Archive is an example of successful collaboration between institutions like the Boston Athenaeum and between faculty and students.

 

For the Mellon Foundation, the Lyford Project's Digital Archive is an example of how funded undergraduate research creates opportunities for future research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the scaffolding and sequencing of complex and sophisticated digital liberal arts projects.

 

For prospective undergraduate researchers, the Lyford Project's Digital Archive is a valuable resource that is open to multiple readings, varied configurations, and a diverse set of research approaches. 

 

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