Appraisal is one of the most important record management tasks. Appraisal is the process of evaluating business activities to determine which records need to be captured and how long the records need to be kept to meet business, the requirements of organizational accountability and community expectations. Appraisal, therefore, is concerned with deciding both what records should be created to document a business activity and how long those records should be retained. This paper attempts to review the appraisal policies of four national archives in UK, USA, Canada, Australia, which have managed public records systematically and to compare appraisal policies in the following five parts such as 1) purpose, 2) appraisal objectives, 3) appraisal values, 4) procedures for appraisal, and 5) special considerations. Finally, the paper suggests the important items required when the Korean National Archives and Records Services develops their own appraisal policies.