ABSTRACT
Central features of museum provision in the 1980s and 1990s have been the setting of targets in key areas of provision and the measurement of performance. It is no longer good enough for museums just to be well run. They now have to be seen to be well run. As a result, in most forms of museums, performance measurement of one sort or another is common practice. In 1991, the Office of Arts and Libraries set out the performance indicators it wanted the national museums and galleries to use. In the same year, the Audit Commission completed its guide for the auditing of local authority museums. The private sector, although under no compulsion, have found it good business practice to use indicators to assess performance, and use those best suited to the priorities of their institution.
