Museum Measurement: Questions of Value

Abstract

For much of the last two decades, measuring the value of museums has been a contested field, with governments and the museum sector holding different and sometimes opposing views on what values and whose values should inform the development of performance indicators and measurement frameworks. This chapter looks at development in museum measurement in the United Kingdom and Australia with some brief, additional reference to the USA. It traces its development from the introduction of performance management in the 1980s through to the emergence of evidence‐based policy in the following decade, examining the issues that emerged during this period and considering more recent developments and the degree to which they offer some resolution. The chapter begins by locating museum measurement within the wider context of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development public sector reforms of the last three decades. In the first section, “Setting the agenda,” structures of accountability are discussed with reference to their implications for the museum sector. In the next section, “Questions of value,” the debates underlying the measurement of museum performance are explored. Finally, “National approaches to measuring value” examines current initiatives adopted by governments and the museum sector, principally in the UK, Australia, and the USA, to measure value. The chapter concludes by arguing that, although recent developments indicate some merging of positions in the creation of national frameworks aimed at capturing evidence of cultural and museum value, work remains to be done if the sector wants to see museums valued in ways that they consider appropriate.

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