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collectiveaccess/providence

Open-source web application for cataloguing and managing museum, archival and research collections, including digital media files.

Open-source alternative to:PastPerfectCollective Access Hosted Services

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Last commit
2 days ago

What is it?

Providence is the back-end cataloguing component of CollectiveAccess, a web-based suite for managing, describing and discovering digital and physical collections. It is configurable for different metadata standards and supports data types and media formats including documents, images, audio, video and 3D files.

Paired with Pawtucket2, the public-access front end, Providence lets institutions build interactive websites on top of the data they manage. The project is licensed under GPL-3.0 and is maintained by Whirl-i-Gig with contributions from the open-source community.

Version 2.0 adds a GraphQL API, automated transcription of audio and video via OpenAI Whisper, machine translation of profile text, BagIT export for digital preservation systems, and import support for formats such as METS, MODS and Dublin Core XML. It requires PHP 8.2 or 8.3.

Key features

  • 01Configurable metadata standards and data types for cataloguing collections
  • 02Management of documents, images, audio, video and 3D media
  • 03GraphQL API for search, browse and editing
  • 04Automated audio and video transcription with OpenAI Whisper
  • 05BagIT export for digital preservation systems
  • 06Data import from formats such as METS, MODS and Dublin Core XML

Use cases

  • Cataloguing objects and archival records in a museum or archive
  • Managing digital media assets linked to physical collections
  • Building a public online catalogue together with Pawtucket2
  • Migrating and synchronizing collection data across multiple systems

Quick start

  1. 1

    Check server requirements (PHP 8.2 or 8.3) and follow the installation instructions in the documentation

  2. 2

    Clone the repository from GitHub

    git clone https://github.com/collectiveaccess/providence
  3. 3

    Install the required third-party libraries with Composer from the repository root

    composer.phar install

Things to know

  • Requires a server running PHP 8.2 or 8.3; older PHP versions are unsupported.
  • Upgrading from version 1.7 needs a database migration that may take several hours on large systems.
  • Back up your database and configuration before updating.

In collections

GraphQL APIs & API clients

Topics

#collections-management#museum#archives#cataloguing#digital-asset-management#php#graphql#metadata

FAQ

What is providence?
Open-source web application for cataloguing and managing museum, archival and research collections, including digital media files. Providence is the back-end cataloguing component of CollectiveAccess, a web-based suite for managing, describing and discovering digital and physical collections. It is configurable for different metadata standards and supports data types and media formats including documents, images, audio, video and 3D files.
Is providence free to use? What license does it have?
providence is open source under the GPL-3.0 license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is providence still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to providence was on Nov 5, 2026.
What can I use providence for?
Cataloguing objects and archival records in a museum or archive Managing digital media assets linked to physical collections Building a public online catalogue together with Pawtucket2 Migrating and synchronizing collection data across multiple systems
How do I install providence?
Check server requirements (PHP 8.2 or 8.3) and follow the installation instructions in the documentation Clone the repository from GitHub: git clone https://github.com/collectiveaccess/providence Install the required third-party libraries with Composer from the repository root: composer.phar install
Where can I get providence?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/collectiveaccess/providence

Summary generated by AI from the project's README. GitHub stats refresh daily.

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