Performance indicators framework for assessment of national libraries using the analytic hierarchy process

Abstract

The National Library and Archives of Iran is the most important library in the country, taking on tasks such as providing and protecting the written and unwritten national heritage and organizing the services of other libraries in Iran. An assessment of the National Library and Archives of Iran is critical to understanding how the organization contributes to organizational and strategic goals. This article aims to show the rankings and priorities of performance indicators based on the four perspectives of the balanced scorecard framework (resources, access and infrastructure; use; efficiency; and potentials and development) and with use of the analytic hierarchy process. The perspectives of resources, use, efficiency, and potentials and development were rated. The top performance indicators included: ‘Level of user satisfaction with searching the National Library and Archives of Iran’s website’, ‘Percentage of acquired books in any medium and multimedia resources entered by legal deposit’ and ‘Qualitative evaluation using case studies of use and value of the collection and services’. Pervious literature shows various applications of a joint balanced scorecard and analytic hierarchy process. This study applies this integrated framework throughout an organization in a new service field.