unique individuals

[lizzo]

Howard:

This might be a wish-list question but I thought I'd pose it in case there are ways to solve the issue.

When one adds a person to the database, that person should, of course, be unique and listed only once. My database now has 7,500 persons in it so I often don't see that I duplicated a person until I periodically run Write Text-->Indicate Possible Problems. Then, when I do find a duplicate, it often gets "dicey" in determining which of the duplicate persons should be deleted.

What would you suggest as a way to maintain uniqueness of each individual so as not to be duplicated? I suppose one way would be to check the entire list of names before adding anyone.

What I am "wishing" for is that PAW would beep when I type in a name and tell me that there might be one or more with that same name, then I could decide what to do. Would that be too technical to build into PAW?

Thanks.

~Lou

[Howard Metcalfe]

Oct 10, 2011 14:24:31 GMT -5 lizzo said:

Howard:

This might be a wish-list question but I thought I'd pose it in case there are ways to solve the issue.

When one adds a person to the database, that person should, of course, be unique and listed only once. My database now has 7,500 persons in it so I often don't see that I duplicated a person until I periodically run Write Text-->Indicate Possible Problems. Then, when I do find a duplicate, it often gets "dicey" in determining which of the duplicate persons should be deleted.

What would you suggest as a way to maintain uniqueness of each individual so as not to be duplicated? I suppose one way would be to check the entire list of names before adding anyone.

What I am "wishing" for is that PAW would beep when I type in a name and tell me that there might be one or more with that same name, then I could decide what to do. Would that be too technical to build into PAW?

Thanks.
~Lou

The uniqeness of each person is guarenteed by the fact that the RIN is treated as part of the name. The tests for whether or not two unique people are listed as possible duplicates is given in the Reference Guide topic More Tag menu > Tag People who May be Duplicates, namely that they have the same first and last names and one or more vital dates in common. (Siblings are not tagged.) Please note that this does NOT mean they are duplicates, just similar enough that it's worthwhile investigating at least once. As noted, this will tag the same people that show up in the list of possible problems, for example:

PEOPLE WITH THE SAME NAMES AND DATES:
• Ruth BANCROFT -2905 has the same first and last names and baptism date (on 19 Dec. 1731) as Ruth BANCROFT -23485.
• Esther V. GORMLEY -33967 has the same first and last names and birth date (in June 1891) as Esther GORMLEY -33979.
• Charles Henry WARE -4566 has the same first and last names and birth date (on 13 April 1850) as Charles Benjamin WARE -12925.

Only once in awhile has this analysis resulted in finding two really duplicate people, and that's a big help.

Best,
Howard

[lizzo]

Thanks, Howard.

I hadn't noticed the "Tag People Who May Be Duplicates" function. That's a quicker way to check than running the "Write Text-->Indicate Possible Problems."

The PAWS checker brings up an interesting case of 2 persons who supposedly (I haven't seen the records yet) have the same name, were born on different days in the mid-1700's, but who have the same death dates. The question I need to answer is: are they the same person with erroneous data or are they father and son who died on the same day by an accident? Interesting.....

~Lou

[Howard Metcalfe]

Oct 12, 2011 8:57:51 GMT -5 lizzo said:

Thanks, Howard.

I hadn't noticed the "Tag People Who May Be Duplicates" function. That's a quicker way to check than running the "Write Text-->Indicate Possible Problems."

The PAWS checker brings up an interesting case of 2 persons who supposedly (I haven't seen the records yet) have the same name, were born on different days in the mid-1700's, but who have the same death dates. The question I need to answer is: are they the same person with erroneous data or are they father and son who died on the same day by an accident? Interesting.....

~Lou

Hi Lou,

That is indeed interesting, and is just the sort of case that PAWriter's duplicate checking was meant to bring to light for further investigation.

Best,
Howard