Slippers and Crime

I have been reading with interest the beginnings of an expose about history. As we all know, recent developments in East Timor have resulted in violence and fear. As a fledgling archivist and avid lurker on the australian archivist listserv, I have been recently reading posts about how a building in East Timor was the target of looters. This building contains records about serious crimes committed in East Timor over many years. Some of the cases are still pending. It was reported initially that computers were stolen, although later I read that motorbikes were taken. I am not sure if both or either is true. Awareness is now being raised reagrds possible further looting and how to best protect the records.
These files and reports and documents decribe and articulate a history of a culture. They make up part of the identity of that culture. Apparently the US forces did not consider these implications when they went into Afghanistan and cultural heritage was destroyed. The importance of this information is indefinable, yet I cannot help but think about how evidence of a culture can exist in a document and how much import we place on preserving those documents. Now the looting incident forms part of a record of East Timor.
I cannot articulate my thoughts about this very well at the moment because my head is filled with metadata schemas and record keeping implications in small business applications. It will not disappear however and I will come back to it again soon.
Slippers? Well, my sister bought me a pair six months ago and never sent them. Today, finally, I went out and bought a pair from Safeway. Its too cold in Melbourne to do with out them.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1652287.htm