ensure that performance measurements are prescribed for information technology used by, or to be acquired for, the executive agency and that the performance measurements measure how well the information technology supports programs of the executive agency.

The NIH Office of the Deputy Chief Information Officer has developed an Introduction to NIH IT Performance Measures, which includes definition of terms, basic concepts, and sample performance measures. The NIH IT Management Guide addresses IT performance measures in the context of the NIH IT management process. A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PERFORMANCE MEASURES was prepared as a supplement to a course taught at NIH. The Guide can be downloaded and may be very helpful even without taking the course.

The Web Site Evaluation and Performance Measures Toolkit provides useful approaches and other information for effectively evaluating and establishing performance metrics for any NIH Web site. This document was developed under contract for the NIH Office of the Deputy Chief Information Officer and the NIH Office of Communication and Public Liaison. To access Toolkit, click on the link at the beginning of the paragraph or click here to download the Toolkit Word Document.

Additional guidance, definitions and samples of performance measures:

• GSA Performance-Based Management, Eight Steps to Develop and Use Information Technology Performance Measures Effectively; a useful guide that provides a model for developing performance measures, explains the Balanced Scorecard concept, provides Federal agency examples and has a bibliography of related publications
• GSA Performance Pathways Web site provides access to guides, laws, regulations, samples and other Web sites
• GAO Executive Guide: Effectively Implementing the Government Performance and Results Act, identifies 11 key practices with case illustrations from Federal agencies for each practice
• NPR National Performance Review Managing for Results Web Site
• Congressional Institute GPRA Web site, provides access to more performance measure information.
• Performance Assessment and Results (PAR 4), a Windows-based software package developed by the Navy, and available for downloading, at no charge, at http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/announc/software.html