Documents always have been subject to appraisal in order to determine which material had to be preserved. Archiving institutions need to develop standards that define what exactly constitutes an ``electronic publication'' as opposed to electronic communication, databases and other ephemeral information, and which electronic publication fulfills the quality criteria for archiving. In addition to contents-related quality criteria, further factors may influence the decision to archive electronic media, for instance, functionality, usability, technological standard and adequacy of maintenance.