Reference and Information Service Section Conference and Exhibition 6-8 September 1999, Sydney Hilton, Australia

Performance Indicators: How they Define a "Good" Reference Librarian.

The CAVAL Working Party on Performance Measures for Reference Services has recently completed a five year research project to review reference service performance measures used by Victorian academic libraries. A series of focus groups were conducted with the key constituent groups involved in the provision and use of reference services - postgraduate students and academic staff, undergraduate students, library managers, reference staff.

The major outcomes of the study were the identification of 12 key performance indicators and a new model of reference service effectiveness: the ASK Model. This model clusters the performance indicators around three dimensions which underpin reference services: Attributes, Support, and Knowledge.

Using examples from the key indicators the paper explores the development of position descriptions that could influence performance of reference staff.

Rosemary Cotter, David Cunnington, Eva Fisch, Babara Paton.