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 outcome indicators
These are high-level non-archive indicators that you want to demonstrate, and can evidence that archives contribute towards. They are likely to reflect the overall responsibilities of key decision-makers; notably local government, but also other key stakeholder groups such as your community cohesion or community safety partnership.
Examples include:
- Percentage of local authority budgets delegated to local decision making
- Percentage of people involved in social action in their community
- Percentage of people who feel they can influence decisions in their local area
- Overall and or general satisfaction with local area
- Percentage of people who believe people from different backgrounds get on well together in their local area
- Levels of anti-social behaviour
- Percentage of juvenile offenders re-offending and frequency of re-offending per 100 offenders
- Re-offending rate of prolific and other priority offenders
- Number of first time entrants to the criminal justice system aged 10 to 17
- Overall crime rates
Some of these indicators may be drawn from non-council data sources.
Intermediate outcome indicators
These should include indicators that reflect the specific contribution of archives to the intermediate outcomes.
Examples include:
- Number of:
- full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs supported by the archive visitor economy
- community organisations involved with the local archive assets and facilities
- people who think that the archive helps make their local area a nicer place to live and or contributes to local identity and pride
- Percentage of people who agree that:
- participation in an archives project, activity or event has helped make them feel part of their community
- participation in an archives project, activity or event has helped improve their confidence, self-esteem, communication or social skills
- participation in an archives project, activity or event has encouraged people to respect and trust each other or have more respect for their area
- participation in an archives project, activity or event has helped build positive relationships between local people
- participation in an archives project, activity or event has helped increase their understanding of how they can influence decisions in their neighbourhood or get involved in local decision making
- participation in an archives project, activity or event has made them want to get more involved in community social action or volunteering
- children and young people who agree that participation in an archive project, activity or event has helped them do something positive in their free time or stay out of trouble
- % residents satisfied with their built environment
Intermediate outcome indicators may also include non-archive indicators that are short to medium term ‘proxy’ measures for the overarching strategic outcomes.
Examples include:
- Growth in tourism per year and visitor spend (£ million)
- Percentage of young people participating in positive activities
- Percentage of young people, adults or older people participating in social action or regular volunteering
- Social connectedness
Service outcome indicators
These are indicators specific to archives.
Examples include:
- Archive services achieving Archive Service Accreditation
- Facilities and services with a recognised design or environmental sustainability award
- Percentage of:
- children and young people, adults or older people accessing the archive
- participants who agree that participation in an archive project or event has been enjoyable
- young people, adults or older people regularly volunteering in the archive
- children and young people, adults or older users satisfied with the archive provision in their local area
- residents who agree they have influenced archive provision in their area
- residents who agree that archive provision, activities or events have increased their understanding of the local heritage
- increase in jobs in the heritage economy
- tourists who include archive facilities or events among their reasons for visiting
- Number of:
- participants who agree that participation in an archive project, activity or event has contributed to the survival and/or accessibility of local heritage
- participants who agree that participation in an archive project, activity or event has increased their involvement in their local heritage
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 at risk of offending engaged in positive activities through the archive
- young people, adults or older people participating in archive outreach activities
- young people, adults or older people regularly volunteering in the archive
- people accessing the archive service for the first time
- local organisations supported to gain skills
- Number of uses of the archive as a venue for community activities
- Percentage of visitors making repeat visits/use of the archive service
- Net expenditure on archive provision per head of population.
- Percentage of the population living within ‘x’ miles radius of archive facilities
- Percentage of users satisfied with archive facilities, services or events
- Comparability of facilities, activities or events user profiles with resident profiles
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.