Please Create Possible Duplicate Categories
Because much research has already been done on my family lines, it seems that most of my time in FamilySearch is spent on fixing incorrect merges (two individuals who have the same name, a similar date, but live in a different town or parish).
To help patrons not make this merge mistake, it might be helpful to create different categories for the possible duplicates that show up on the person page.
- "Possible Duplicate with the same vital information"- For duplicates with the exact same name, date and place (usually an individual that got generated by a duplicate christening record). There could be an added caution to please review how this vital information was added.
- "Possible Duplicate with similar information" - For a duplicate individual with the same name and place, but has an approximate year (possibly an individual that got generated from a census record or marriage record found in the same place as the individual's christening record). For this type, there could be a caution to carefully review the date and place information provided in this record and to review each person's family members, not just the details on the comparison page.
- "Possible Duplicate with differing information" - For someone with the same name, a similar date but from a different town or parish. For this type, there could be an encouragement to look at a map as well as each person's family members, not just the details on the comparison page.
Comments
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What I forgot to mention is that one reason for having these different categories is to help patrons realize that not all possible duplicates are created equal, that some require additional research before deciding whether or not they are the same person. An additional reason is to make it faster or easier to find and merge exact duplicates, skipping temporarily over possible duplicates that may take longer to research.
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ALL possible duplicates require additional research.
Every. Single. One.
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