Record linkage
Finding the records in two or more datasets that refer to the same person, company, or thing, when the datasets share no common identifier.
The term comes from statistics and public health, and overlaps heavily with entity resolution. Linkage usually means connecting records across separate sources, where deduplication works within one.
Where it comes up
- The same entity in two systemsOne person or organization exists in two systems under different identifiers, with nothing linking the records.
- Name variantsThe same person or organization appears under several spellings, orders, and abbreviations.
- Addresses written many waysThe same place is written with different abbreviations, word order, capitalization, and levels of detail.
See also
- Entity resolutionDeciding which records refer to the same real-world person, company, or thing, when no shared identifier says so.
- BlockingIn record matching, sorting records into groups that share a cheap key, such as the same postal code, so that only records inside one group are compared with each other.
- Fuzzy matchingComparing two pieces of text for similarity instead of exact equality, so that Jon Smith and John Smith count as close.