Performance Measures in Automated Systems Management

When first approached as a possible speaker on the subject of performance benefit measures for library automation, my immediate reaction was that there are no such measures. Considerable cogitation, consultation, and survey of the literature hasn't made me change my mind, but my coauthor has convinced me that there is a beginning to the development of such measures in the actual management of automated systems today. This, then, is the thrust of our paper. The reality of the situation in most American libraries today is that automated services are neither so well established nor so stable that normal professional management methods suffice for control and evaluation of the application. That is, the cost accounting and budget reporting which are standard in most business (and some public agency) environments are not suited to the management of rapidly changing operations. By normal standards of library operations, most automated services are characterized by a rate of change of procedures, methods, services delivered, and cost