The national museums of Canada are presently going through a series of what are known as "special examinations" by our external auditors, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada. These are not particularly "special"; they are comprehensive or value for money audits of each of us which OAG is required to do every five years, pursuant to the financial legislation under which we operate. They have finished their grisly task with the National Gallery and ourselves and are now beavering away over at Science and Tech and Nature. They are making strong recommendations to develop and set in place formal performance indicators. Actually, we at CMCC (and probably our cross-town colleagues, too) have been thinking about this for some time, but haven't done much yet. I have seen Michael Ames's ideas on this and have also accumulated material from the Glenbow in Calgary and more from Carol Scott at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney and from Historic Houses Trust of NSW. I am aware that the Western Australian Museum is also looking for material. One of the problems I have with some of the approaches is that they have so many indicators that one could spend an inordinate amount of time just collecting the data. As well, most of these indicators are indicators of economy or efficiency, when my colleagues and I feel very strongly that we should have a few simple indicators, which cover all areas of activity, but which focus, in the main, on effectiveness. The indicators from the Glenbow and HHT-NSW are much more to our taste. We want very much to develop something that will help management manage. How many other heritage institutions out there have gone through or are going through this process? Could we obtain samples of what you have produced and some information as to why you went in the direction you did, with respect to your indicators? My colleagues and I would be very grateful for any information you could provide. Harry Needham Manager, Audit & Evaluation Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation PO Box 3100, Station B Hull, Quebec Canada J8X 4H2 (819) 776-7123 (voice) (819) 776-7122 (fax) harry.needham(at)cmcc.muse.digital.ca