Editorial

Citation

Parker, S. (2003), "Editorial", Performance Measurement and Metrics, Vol. 4 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/pmm.2003.27904caa.001

Editorial

The Fifth Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services "Library measures to fill the void: assessing outcomes" took place in July 2003 in Durham City, UK. The conference was organised by the Information Management Research Institute (IMRI), School of Informatics, University of Northumbria. There were over 50 papers covering a wide range of aspects of the subject, with contributions from 20 countries. The diversity of the papers and the richness of the content made this a conference to remember.

The conference proceedings will be published by Emerald at the end of the year, but to tempt your credit card I will give you a flavour of the keynote speakers.

The conference's first keynote speaker was A. Parasuraman, Professor and Chair of Marketing from the University of Miami. The presentation provided an overview of Parasuraman's two decade-long research on customer service and service quality, which has been the basis for the development of Servqal which led to Libqual and now Libqual+. The presentation placed emphasis on the role of technology in delivering services and the conceptualisation and measurement of e-service quality. It was a fascinating glimpse into the complexity of the assessment of any virtual service and of particular relevance to all who struggle to evaluate electronic library services. In addition it was a great privilege to have Parsu with us for the conference. Having sat with him for one particularly detailed session on the issues that face us in measuring effectiveness of library services he commented "It is a complicated business – this measuring the performance of libraries!" We would all agree.

John Bertot from the School of Information Studies at Florida State University gave an excellent paper on "Library electronic measures: status and issues". The paper provided an update on initiatives which are developing international and national standards for library network statistics and performance indicators. One of the loudest messages that came from John's paper was how much all libraries can learn from each other. The measurement of e-literacy, for example, is well developed in the children's library field and it is important that we break down our silo mentality to learn from each other.

David Curtis is Director for District Council Continuous Performance Assessment, of the Audit Commission in the UK. (David was unable to attend and so his paper was delivered by Helen Dean of the Audit Commission.) Performance measurement and social impact have emerged as major factors in the Audit Commission's work on improvement in public services and the presentation focussed on the need to engage with the impact and outcomes of library services rather than the procedures, processes, aims and policies. David's paper was responded to by Bill McNaught, Head of Cultural Development at Gateshead Council and Chair of the National Advisory Council on Libraries, which is a British Government Ministerial appointment. This led to a lively debate.

Peter Hernon, Professor at Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Boston, MA is well known for his work on performance measurement and indeed has written over 40 books and more than 200 articles on the subject so it was a delight to have him with us for the whole conference. He examined the different perspectives there are on assessment and evaluation and concluded that any one type of measure cannot meet all of the demands placed on libraries and the institutions or organisations in which they are situated.

The conference was concluded by a debate between John Bertot, Peter Hernon and Roswitha Poll, Chief Librarian of University and Regional Library Munster. The debate emphasised the great strides that have been made in measuring the performance of our services in the decade since the first Northumbria conference, and also the enormous challenges that are still with us.

The conference was enhanced by hosting closed meetings of the librarians in the UK who are developing the LibQual+ methodology and who met with their counterparts from the USA and also a meeting of the Libecon Country Coordinators. The social programme included a reception hosted by Emerald, a colourful evening's entertainment by a totally tattooed and brilliant Northumbrian piper and the conference dinner which was held in a Medieval Castle. In all, a most successful event. Be sure you look out for the dates of the next conference in 2005 and book early.

Sandra Parker