Flora by Flora Software – Profile
Note
This profile was completed by the software vendor at CHIN’s request and does not reflect the views or opinions of CHIN. It is presented for information only and does not indicate approval or accreditation by CHIN. Inclusion of specific products does not mean that CHIN recommends the software, but that members of the community expressed interest in learning about these products.
This information was accurate as of January 2025. For more information or to request updated information, please contact the vendor directly.
Product name
Flora
Vendor name
Flora Software
Vendor overview
Website URL
https://www.flora-bam.net (in French only)
Head office
2B Pierre de Coubertin Avenue
38170 SEYSSINET-PARISET
FRANCE
Year founded: 1995
Telephone number: +33 4 37 56 07 53
Email: contact@flora-bam.net
Contact person: François-Laurent Contenay, Director
Product overview
Product description
Flora helps clients to describe, manage and distribute museum, library and archive collections from a browser. This web-based software package offers all the features required for heritage management: inventory, cultural, scientific and iconographic documentation, preservation and conservation, auditing, etc.
Its users work alone or as part of a network, in public and private institutions, foundations and companies, to preserve and exhibit scientific, artistic, cultural and technical heritage. Most often, they work in museums with a wide range of specialties: fine art, contemporary art, natural history, archaeology, science and technology, etc.
The Flora Collections portal showcases the data, photos and documents associated with the works on a website built around the WordPress platform. Flora now serves over 350 institutions in France, Belgium and Switzerland. It is the first publisher of public documentary software in French-speaking Switzerland. The institutions it equips include the network of archaeological museums in the Canton of Vaud, the Plateforme 10 museums in Lausanne and the Geneva school library network.
The Flora Software team is driven by its enthusiasm to serve heritage institutions with all the skills required to carry out high-quality projects. The team includes project managers, museum, library and archive trainers and professionals, data integrators, developers and technical support staff. Together, they work to satisfy their clients.
However, since there is always room for improvement, the team is already working on a new offering: Flora#Next.
Disciplines supported
Flora is a multidisciplinary software package for managing heritage, scientific and iconographic collections, public reading libraries (specialized and university), archives and documentation centres.
Product launch date
2003
Product history
Flora is the complete web version resulting from the fusion of the Loris/Doris library software with the Athénéo museum software. Flora is now on its fourth major rewrite.
Future development
We are working on redesigning Flora’s interface. This project, called “Flora#Next,” will introduce substantial improvements, including:
- the integration of features powered by artificial intelligence
- the addition of a fully multilingual interface
- improved responsiveness and compliance with the RGAA (Référentiel général d’amélioration de l’accessibilité) standard
- the use of new security techniques
A main version is published approximately every two years. Major versions include important new features or user interface redesigns. Minor versions with improvements are released periodically. Patch versions are deployed to correct bugs or improve software security.
Demo version
Presentations are available by videoconference. Please send a message to contact@flora-bam.net.
Support
Support methods
A team of three experienced people coordinates responses to questions posed to the technical support team. Other contributors can also be mobilized, depending on the nature of the support required: project managers, trainers, technicians or data scientists.
Support language(s)
French
Support availability and hours
9:00 am to 12:30 pm and 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm (UTC+2)
Support fees
Support is provided under an annual maintenance contract that covers corrective, evolutionary and adaptive maintenance.
Client support network
Club2e (in French only) brings together Flora clients who work in museums, libraries and archives. Museum clients represent over 200 institutions.
Training
A team of Qualiopi-certified trainers (certification aimed at ensuring the quality of our training) delivers standard or customized training, on site or remotely.
System updates and maintenance
Licences for new versions are included in the annual maintenance contract. We release a main version every two years or so and publish minor corrections two or three times a year.
Cost
Pricing
The purchase price (including implementation) is calculated according to the usual number of users (we do not block connections to the database), the number of records and the number of networked institutions.
Maintenance costs
Maintenance costs are calculated as a percentage of the initial purchase price.
System specifications
Operating systems supported
Flora can be installed on several Linux distributions or on a Windows server.
Underlying database
Flora is compatible with most SQL (Structured Query Language) databases on the market (MySQL/MariaDB, Oracle, SQL Server, etc.). We install PostgreSQL by default.
Platform(s)
We size the platforms according to the size of the project and the usual number of simultaneous users.
Hardware requirements
Recommendation: client
Flora is a web-based software that requires no installation on the client’s workstation. Flora works with the latest versions of the main browsers on Windows, Linux and MacOS.
Recommendation: server
Flora is offered as a service on our platforms or is installed on the client’s infrastructure. In the latter case, Flora’s technical support team will assist the client with recommendations for server sizing and security by providing a document that describes the architecture and flows.
Staff requirements
Flora distinguishes between the rights of functional administrators, who are authorized and trained to configure the system, and software users. No advanced computer skills are required for these roles.
Plug-ins and/or modules available
Flora is a unified software package; all modules are presented in standard mode.
Some advanced features are disabled and must be implemented in project mode:
- Advanced management of periodicals (subscriptions, newsletters, analytic records)
- Circulation management (reader management, loans and returns, reminders)
- Advanced archive management (physical processing, location, on-site consultation, disposal)
- Flora-Archéo: integrated module for managing stratigraphic units and operations
- Flora-ImmoPat: management of heritage real estate (churches, historic monuments, etc.)
- Application programming interface (API), OAI-PMH (Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting) repository
Third-party requirements
No third-party products are required.
Flora communicates with Horus Condition Report, an optional third-party tool for creating condition reports on a tablet, in disconnected mode.
Note: Flora includes a standard module for drafting and managing condition reports.
Interoperability
Flora offers numerous interoperability mechanisms, including:
- distribution of an OAI-PMH repository to distribute data in several formats (the list of distributed fields can be modified in project mode)
- data query API in the form of REST (Representational State Transfer) Web services
- access to images and records via permanent links based on the ARK (Archival Resource Key) standard
Accessibility
The user interface of the new version of Flora, currently in preparation, will be redesigned according to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
Customization
Flora can display the institution’s logo. Style sheets can be adapted to the institution’s colours and fonts.
Web integration capabilities
Cloud functionality
Flora can be accessed on site or via cloud access, hosted by one of our partners and operated by our subsidiary YES (Yoni Enterprise Service).
Server location
Servers are generally located in the country where the institution is located. Our partner, OVHcloud (formerly OVH), has an infrastructure on Canadian soil.
Security protocols
We recognize the importance of protecting access to software and data that are sensitive and may be subject to computer attack. We deploy several security protocols, including:
- systematic and mandatory “https” access using a security certificate
- limited access to a range of IP (Internet Protocol) addresses
- strong passwords imposed according to company policy (single sign-on (SSO) and/or directory authentication imposed whenever possible)
Browsers supported
Most recent browsers are supported: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, etc.
For security reasons, we recommend that browsers are always updated to the latest version.
Flora’s user interface uses standard HTML5 (HyperText Markup Language 5) and CSS3 (cascading style sheet, version 3) protocols.
Web-based access for data entry
Access to Flora is possible via the Internet, according to the security settings indicated above.
Web publishing platform
We have developed tools integrated with the WordPress platform to enable collections to be published on the web. This offering, called “Flora Collections,” integrates a complete database search, prepared searches and direct access to images and records.
Linked open data functionality
Flora can publish data in an OAI-PMH repository, and these data can be harvested by other institutions. REST APIs enable the database to be opened using standard protocols and formats.
User groups and security
User profiles
User profiles can be used to assign different authorizations to a professional. These include the features offered, associated rights and, where applicable, accessible data.
Flora’s interface adapts to the assigned authorizations and hides options that are not available.
User groups
Authorizations are associated with groups of users to whom access profiles are assigned.
Visitor profiles
Flora makes it possible to set visitor profiles with restricted rights (for example, for researchers).
Installations
No installation is required on the client workstation. Access is via a simple URL.
Audit trails and/or edit history
All changes are tracked (old and new content, date and person).
Offline access
Offline applications are available for movements, inventories, audits and condition reports. With the new version of Flora, it will be possible to work offline from the Web interface in several modules, including auditing and inventory. When the connection is re-established, Flora will automatically synchronize the data.
Privacy features
The following features are available: management of access rights, masking of confidential data, possibility of limited access to part of the database.
Data migration and stability
Import formats
Import of Excel PivotTables is available. Flora Software’s data integration team is made up of three people dedicated to data recovery in project mode. Flora’s experts are trained to analyze third-party data and draw up migration instructions.
Export formats
Numerous formats are available, including CSV/Excel, XML, PDF, ODT (LibreOffice), JSON, UNIMARC.
Backups
- SaaS mode: Flora Software manages daily, weekly and monthly backups, as well as outsourcing data on a weekly basis. The virtual machine is backed up every day to enable rapid recovery in the event of destruction of the host server.
- On site: Flora Software’s team assists clients in implementing backups according to their procedures and equipment.
Standards and schemas
Metadata schemas
Flora exploits metadata schemas according to context (images, videos and PDFs) and displays them dynamically.
Data content standards (cataloguing rules)
Flora uses existing cataloguing standards:
- UNIMARC and MARC21 for bibliographic data
- ISAD(G) and ISAAR(CPF) for archive data
- Darwin Core for natural science data
Other inventory rules are implemented, as prescribed by the authorities: Service des musées de France, Services d’archéologie, etc.
Vocabulary standards
Flora uses several controlled vocabularies, including thesauruses, authorities and controlled lists.
These controlled vocabularies are implemented in project mode. Administrators can download or modify these lists and thesauruses, for example in SKOS format.
Local terminology lists
Functional administrators can modify local terminology lists.
Accreditation
Flora is recognized by the Service des musées de France. The software is e-ReColNat certified for export in Darwin Core format. Flora will soon be recognized as compliant with the SPECTRUM standard.
Data entry and content
Media upload/linking
Mass import tools for multimedia data (images and videos) are available. An accompanying Excel file centralizes the metadata to be inserted into the database and links the files to the records.
Media formats supported
Numerous image, video, sound and 3D file formats are supported. The most common are JPEG, TIFF, PNG, MP4, AVI and MP3.
Data entry features
Copy and paste
Yes
Search and replace
Yes, with the ability to mass-modify a batch of records
Spellcheck
Yes, the browser’s spellcheck
Bulk cataloguing
Yes
Batch edit
Yes
Batch location change
Yes, with location history
Duplicate record search
Yes
Template record
Yes, input templates created by users using default values
Date selection and formats
Yes
Mandatory fields
Yes. There are also recommended fields which do not block saving, but whose absence triggers an alert.
Others
Data entry wizards: dates, lists, thesauruses
Spreadsheet editing view
No
Geographic mapping
Yes, using OpenStreet Map without a licence
Multilingual fields
No
Barcoding
Yes, barcode creation and reading
Labelling
Specific, user-configurable editing format
Search and reporting
Types of search supported
- Google-type searches: search in the main fields of the software’s main tables
- Simple searches with restrictions (with or without photo, by date range, by collection, etc.)
- Advanced searches with comparison and Boolean operators
- Cross-searches between several software tables
Multilingual searching
Thesauruses can be searched in multiple languages. Support for UNICODE characters enables searches in non-Latin alphabets.
Report styles included
Quick HTML reports
Report publisher by publication in LibreOffice documents
Report customization
Reports can be customized by functional administrators.
Report program
LibreOffice
Museum functions
Collections management function overview
Flora covers all the functional needs of museums, including:
- recording and documenting of collections
- management and conservation of collections
- inventory
- audit
Registration
Yes
Acquisitions
Yes, management of new items (acquisitions, donations, bequests, etc.)
Inventory management
Yes
Internal tracking
Yes, each record has a completion status. Only authorized persons can validate a record.
External shipments
Yes
Cataloguing
Yes
Conservation
Yes
Curatorial research
Yes
Publications and printed material
Yes
Rights management and reproduction
Yes
Risk management and valuation
Yes, as well as management of the Plan de sauvegarde des biens culturels
Exhibitions
Yes, preparation and execution of an exhibition; management of movements and associated insurance
Loan management
Yes. Module in standardized GAM3 (gestion administrative des mouvements de prêts et dépôts) format, version 3; this is a French standard for the exchange of works between institutions so that loans are accompanied by a digital slip.
Deaccessions
Yes
Digital asset management
Yes, link to digital assets, including three-dimensional objects
Additional features and functions
Complete management of documentation of works (for example, from a library or documentation centre) and of archives associated with records (storage of original or digital documents)
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