Below are suggestions of how to measure the contribution of archives to better outcomes across a number of policy themes. Not all of these suggestions will be relevant to your local outcomes.
You should select a small number of indicators from across the different levels that together best measure the contribution of archives to your service, intermediate and overarching strategic outcomes. Draw on available data from existing sources within your local council or organisation and elsewhere wherever possible.
Stage four of ‘Creating your framework’ has a step-by-step guide to selecting performance indicators
Overarching strategic outcomes
These are very high-level, long-term outcomes that archives, along with other services, contribute to across the local population. They are likely to reflect the overall responsibilities of key decision-makers; notably local government, but also other key stakeholder groups such as health and social care providers.
Examples include:
- Loneliness: percentage of adults who feel lonely often or always or some of the time
- Social Isolation: percentage of adult social care users who have as much social contact as they would like
- Self-reported wellbeing: satisfaction, happiness, anxiety and feel things are worthwhile
- Health related quality of life for older people
- Employment for those with a long-term health condition including those with a learning difficulty/disability or mental illness
Intermediate outcome indicators
These should include indicators that reflect the specific contribution of archives to the intermediate outcomes.
Examples include:
- people who agree that participation in an archive project, activity or event has made them more likely to lead a healthier lifestyle
- people who agree that participation in an archive project, activity or event has helped them increase their understanding of how to improve their health or exercise patient choice
- people who agree that participation in an archive project, activity or event has helped them manage their health condition
- people who agree that participation in an archive project, activity or event has improved their mental well-being or sense of identity
- people who agree that participation in an archive project, activity or event has helped them meet and connect with local people or made them feel part of their community
Service outcome indicators
These are indicators specific to archives.
Examples include:
- Percentage of:
- people who agree that participation in an archive project or event has been enjoyable
- young people, adults or older people volunteering in the archive
Where possible indicators should be broken down further, for example people at risk of or recovering from specific health conditions, people with a disability or limiting illness and other disadvantaged and or vulnerable groups.
Indicators can also be broken down to differentiate in-house, commissioned or external.
Service output indicators
These indicators are also specific to archives.
Examples include:
- Number of:
- young people and adults or older people participating in archive activities, project or events
- visits or participants in the archive offer (per 1,000 population)
- children and young people participating in archive activities during the school holidays
- young people, adults or older people regularly volunteering in the archive
- young people, adults or older people participating in or completing health-related archive activity programmes
- new partnerships/projects developed specifically to provide health and wellbeing outcomes
Where useful indicators can be broken down further, for example, by geographic area or target wards or by specific groups, including different age groups or disadvantaged and or vulnerable groups.