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Record linkage: making maximum use of the discriminating power of identifying information

Published:01 November 1962Publication History
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Abstract

Special difficulties are encountered in devising reliable systems for searching and updating any large files of documents that must be identified primarily on the basis of names and other personal particulars. The underlying problem is that of making nearly maximum use of items of identifying information that are individually unreliable but that may collectively be of considerable discriminating power. Rules that can be applied generally to name retrieval systems have been developed In a methodological study of the linkage of vital and health records into family groupings for demographic research purposes. These rules are described, and the ways in which information utilization for matching may be optimized are discussed.

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  • Published in

    cover image Communications of the ACM
    Communications of the ACM  Volume 5, Issue 11
    Nov. 1962
    178 pages
    ISSN:0001-0782
    EISSN:1557-7317
    DOI:10.1145/368996
    Issue’s Table of Contents

    Copyright © 1962 ACM

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    Association for Computing Machinery

    New York, NY, United States

    Publication History

    • Published: 1 November 1962

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