Bodeene Amyot Cairdeas

About me

I am responsible for managing born-digital and audiovisual collections in Special Collections, accessioning, arranging, describing, preserving, and ensuring accessibility for new and legacy digitized AV materials and digital objects. I work closely and collaboratively with colleagues in Digital Scholarship and Distinctive Collections, and Digital Assets. I joined JMU Libraries in 2019, after working as Hub Manager for the Mukurtu post-custodial and community archive project at the University of Oregon Libraries in partnership with Indigenous nations in what is now Oregon. My documentary storytelling work is on display at the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History, the Oregon Folklife Network, and the Deschutes Historical Museum.

Education: Master of Library & Information Science (Louisiana State University, 2024); Graduate certificate in Archival Studies (Louisiana State University, 2022);  Arrangement & Description certificate (Society of American Archivists, 2022); Digital Archives Specialist certificate (Society of American Archivists, 2020); Master’s in Education, Montessori concentration (University of Hartford, 2018);  Information and Library Science certificate (University of Maine, 2015); Documentary Production graduate diploma (Algonquin College, 2010); BA History (Carleton University, 2008)

About Academic Engagement Unit

We welcome people to the Libraries and help facilitate their experience by staffing the Libraries’ buildings and supporting people on their journey of inquiry. We answer and refer questions via Ask the Library, provide instruction sessions and consultations, and leverage our expertise to develop and provide access to scholarly collections, including special collections. Departments include Access & User Services, Digital Scholarship and Distinctive Collections, and Research & Education Services.

About Digital Scholarship and Distinctive Collections Department

We partner across JMU and in the surrounding communities to create, collect, steward, and imaginatively share unique collections in a variety of media types. We leverage the latest technologies and best practices in digital scholarship to support the exploration and understanding of our shared cultural heritage. Our expertise includes rare books, manuscripts, archives, digital archives, primary source instruction, preservation, conservation, digitization, digital pedagogy, and digital and immersive projects. The Digital Scholarship and Distinctive Collections (DSDC) department combines the Digital Projects and Special Collections teams.

About Special Collections Team

We collect, steward, and preserve materials that document the Central Shenandoah Valley as well as the institutional history of James Madison University. Special Collections also serves as the Libraries’ repository for rare and unique materials. The Preservation office within Special Collections provides book and paper conservation for rare and archival collections as well as book repair for the Libraries’ circulating collections.

Our team works to support teaching and scholarship with primary source materials. We also promote primary source literacy within teaching and learning at JMU and in the wider community of researchers.

Special Collections’ materials and services are available to the public.