I agree with Dan.  Sometimes your indicators aren't visible until you've
identified what your outcomes are.  What would you like the collections
department to achieve?  Once you know that, you can back track and figure out
what your indicator would be for having achieved the outcome.

You might find it helpful to look outside the museum field for some suggestions.
 I know that the United Way has really transformed the ways that they measure
outcomes.  Their book, "Measuring Program Outcomes: a Practical Approach" has a
whole section on measuring hard-to-quantify outcomes.  You might have to change
the terminology that they use for your specific situation.  (For instance, in
collections, you're dealing with "artifacts" and not "clients.") But I think
that it's worth looking at if you're really stuck.

Emily Milot
Instructor
Museum Studies Department
Regis College




Quoting Dan Bartlett <[log in to unmask]>:

> How about measuring the amount of time it takes to assess and accession
> artifacts and complete the necessary paperwork, or process incoming and
> outgoing loans?  How long does it take to respond to research requests or
> photo reproductions?  Numbers of artifacts, etc might not be a good measure
> for museums that are not actively collecting or doing much with loans, but
> efficient handling could be a great measure.
>
> Also, if the collections department establishes annual goals (re-inventory
> and check condition of butterfly collection, cover shelves in store room B
> with Marvelseal, etc) and each goal has milestones and target dates along the
> way then performance can be checked against goals periodically during the
> year.
>
> Dan Bartlett
> Curator of Exhibits
> Midway Village & Museum Center
> Rockford, IL
>
>
> ---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
> From:         Mary Oliver <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To:     Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
> Date:          Wed, 27 Sep 2006 11:35:17 -0400
>
> >Good Morning,
> >
> >We are creating a performance matrix for our organization which will become
> >the measurement for success in given areas.  Easily quantified are areas
> >such as programming, visitation and museum store sales have been included.
> >We are having difficulty figuring out how to create quantifiable indicators
> >of success for the collections department.  Are there any organizations out
> >there who are able to do this?
> >
> >Thank you,
> >
> >Mary
> >
> >Mary Oliver
> >Director of Collections
> >
> >Dayton History
> >1000 Carillon Blvd.
> >Dayton, Ohio 45409
> >
> >937-293-2841 x115
> >[log in to unmask]
> >
> >
> >
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