Digitisation, artificial intelligence and born-digital records are inconspicuously transforming traditional archival practices. Classical archival theory places strong emphasis on expert appraisal of records, grounded in the analysis of their creator, provenance, and the context of acquisition. These principles remain fundamental; but the digital environment provides both new challenges and opportunities, as for the scale and technological approaches. At the same time, it brings the critical questions concerning the transparency and societal relevance of appraisal and selection processes. Will there not arise new ways for the participation of broad user communities in decisions about what is going to be preserved for the future?

The National Digital Archive of the Czech Republic acts as the guarantor of archival appraisal and selection, providing in Czech Republic both methodological guidance and technical tools that support the long-term preservation of digital, digitised records and digitally managed records of many kinds. These practices also offer a platform for examining how established archival principles are adapted within contemporary digital infrastructures.

The paper will focuse on the appraisal and the selection of archival materials in the digital age as an important, yet often insufficiently reflected, part of (not only) digital archival infrastructures, including by archivists themselves. It will try to discuss, that decisions about what should be preserved, how selection criteria are formulated, and how appraisal outcomes are communicated, are a fundamental form of historical, cultural and social mediation, rather than a purely technical or administrative procedure. We can see, that the selection criteria and processes actively shape the historical narratives and influence what is represented in the digital archival record. So how can archives ensure the transaprency of the process, what measurements could and should be performed?

Drawing on a case study of a digital archive and related institutional archival practices, the paper analyses traditional appraisal principles and criteria for long-term preservation in the digital environment. Particular attention is paid to mechanisms through which the expectations and needs of user communities are identified and taken into account. The paper further explores possibilities for involving the public and researchers in appraisal and selection processes, for example through participatory proposals, curated or thematic digital collections, and forms of mediated co-creation that respect professional archival standards.

The paper will analyze archival appraisal and selection as a possible “infrastructure of engagement” that connects archival expertise with research and public expectations. Digital archives are not only repositories of information but also spaces of trust, and shared responsibility for historical and cultural memory. The archive is thus reaffirmed as a trusted institution providing reliable and “safe” sources, while simultaneously adapting to expectations.

The aim of the paper is to contribute to debates on how digital archives can develop transparent, participatory, and sustainable models of appraisal and selection, which then demonstrates the long-term relevance of digital archival infrastructures.