# Archival Value

Perhaps the main benefit of paper is in its value as an archival medium.  Acid-free paper can last hundreds if not thousands of years, and the same can definitely *not* be said of digital media at present.  For now, at least, there is clearly merit in thinking of how to assure that a printable summary of even a very interactive paper can be archived on paper.  Services like the [Internet Archive](https://archive.org) and [Memento](http://mementoweb.org) are improving year by year, but it is not yet clear when (if ever) electronic archiving will match physical archiving for long-term storage of information.
