Overview
ISO 21248:2019 (ISO 21248:2019) - Information and documentation - Quality assessment for national libraries - provides a structured framework for evaluating the quality, performance and impact of national libraries. The standard defines terminology, specifies performance measurement and impact assessment methods, and describes how results can be used for longitudinal comparison within a library and, with care, for comparisons between libraries with different mandates.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Definitions and terminology: a comprehensive set of terms for quality assessment in national libraries to ensure consistent measurement and reporting.
- Quality criteria: general and national-library‑specific criteria that apply to collections, services and organizational functions.
- Performance measurement:
- Guidance on selecting and using performance indicators.
- A descriptive framework for each indicator (name, background, objective, definition, method(s), interpretation, sources).
- Rules on selection, limitations and interpretation to support valid comparisons over time.
- Annex A provides a normative description of indicators.
- Impact assessment:
- Methods for demonstrating library impact on individuals, institutions and society (inferred, observed, solicited and combined evidence).
- Approaches for assessing economic value, including valuation of user benefits and economic impact analysis.
- Techniques for evaluating impact on specific target groups (researchers, educators, the public, publishers, government, business).
- Annex B offers example impact surveys; Annex C maps indicators to a balanced scorecard structure.
- Scope boundaries: the standard does not cover web archiving statistics and quality (it references ISO/TR 14873 for that topic).
- Practical constraints: not all methods apply to every national library; the standard specifies limitations and does not exclude other valid methods.
Practical applications
- Establishing a consistent performance-monitoring program tailored to a national library’s mission.
- Designing impact studies to demonstrate societal, educational or economic benefits to funders and stakeholders.
- Informing strategic planning, quality assurance and evidence-based reporting to government or civic bodies.
- Benchmarking internal trends over time and, where appropriate, comparing across institutions while accounting for mandate differences.
Who should use this standard
- National library directors and quality managers
- Institutional researchers and assessment teams
- Policy makers, funders and government auditors
- Library consultants and performance analysts
Related standards and references
- ISO 11620 (library performance indicators) and ISO 16439 (methods for impact assessment) influenced ISO 21248:2019.
- For web archiving statistics and quality, see ISO/TR 14873.
Keywords: ISO 21248, ISO 21248:2019, national libraries, quality assessment, performance indicators, impact assessment, library performance measurement, library evaluation.
