Performance measurement: a historical perspective

Performance measurement is a topic of current interest at both national and local level. This article is a selective historical review of performance measurement from the 1960s to the present day. Despite the plethora of literature on the topic there appears to be a notable lack of progress. Some of the major and most recent work is assessed and the fundamental difficulties in attempting to measure the performance of library services are noted. It is suggested that future work must concentrate on output measures which are both appropriate to the service being provided and easy to understand by all.