CollectiveAccess is an open-source collections management and presentation software designed to handle large, heterogeneous collections that have complex cataloguing requirements and require support for a variety of metadata standards and media formats. It is built around a relational database that enables powerful searching and browsing options, while providing opportunities for nuanced web-based collection discovery.
CollectiveAccess has two main components: Providence and Pawtucket. Providence is the core cataloguing application of CollectiveAccess where data, media and metadata is input, edited, and managed. Access to Providence is web-based, allowing users easy access via web-browsers. Pawtucket is the optional, public web-access tool for digital publication and discovery. Selected features are designed to handle various aspects relating to data modeling, workflow management, web publishing, granular control and digital preservation for a variety of collections.
It supports different metadata standards including DACS, Dublin Core, and VRA Core, and also accommodates an array of external data sources and services such as The Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), the Getty Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT), Google Maps, and other descriptive and geospatial services. It can also handle a broad spectrum of digital media formats including high-resolution video, audio, and image files.
The software is freely available under the open source GNU General Public License, meaning it’s free to download and use and that users are encouraged to share and distribute code. It also has a robust set of customizable features available providing institutions with a plethora of options that accommodate both traditional and more idiosyncratic collections. Hosting is available through CollectiveAccess developers Whirl-i-Gig as is a simple solution for users who don’t have in-house server administration or technical support for third-party server management.
Current default and custom themes (to the extent the user requires) in the front-end Pawtucket are designed with WCAG compliance in mind for accessibility. Due to the image and data-heavy nature of a content management system like CollectiveAccess, alt-text is a critical accessibility component. It can be configured to generate from any combination of fields in the database; the default is the title of the record. The back-end of Providence is complex and has been around longer, so it does not entirely follow WCAG guidelines; however, Whirl-i-gig is working to improve that in the near future.
