How to work with Match Lists

Vitalware's Match List process attempts to link new registrations to existing registrations in another module, such as Deaths to Births. Typically it is run each evening or early morning.

Each Vital Records Office specifies:

A set of fields that must match exactly in both records in order for an Exact match to be identified.
A set of fields in which records can show a combination of matches (exact or loose) to be flagged as Potential matches.
A loose match is a value that is similar but not identical to another value, e.g. a first name appearing as a middle name (Carol and Jenny Carol), a date that is slightly out (e.g. 26/2/1989 instead of 21/2/1989).

An operator must then manually accept Potential matches before they are linked in the system.

Note: What happens when an Exact match is found depends on your Registry. Some allow Vitalware to make the link between the two records automatically. Others require Exact matches to be eye-balled and accepted manually by an operator.

For example, a Vital Records Office can specify that all of the following fields must match exactly for a link to be established between a Death record and a Birth record:

Gender
Date of birth
Place of birth
First name
Middle name
Given names
Father's surname
Mother's maiden name

If there is an exact match, either the two matching records will be linked automatically by Vitalware or the match will be flagged as Exact and an operator will need to confirm the match. Which of these occurs will depend on the policy of your Registry.

If some of the fields are an Exact match but others are not, a Potential match is flagged for an operator to accept, ignore or reject.

How to accept a potential (or an exact) match

Note: Some Registry's require Exact matches to be accepted manually by staff rather than allowing Vitalware to link the records automatically. In this case the Match Status for the record will be indicated as Exact.

To accept a Potential match (or to accept an Exact match if your organization requires an operator to accept Exact matches manually):

Run a search in the Match Lists module without specifying a Match Status (by default all records with a Match Status of Potential or an Exact will be returned by a search):
All matches with a Match Status of Potential or Exact are returned:

Note: Your System Administrator configures which fields are displayed in the Details To Be Matched and Potential Matches windows.

Examine the list of Potential Matches to identify a match.
If there is insufficient detail provided in the Potential Matches list to determine whether there is a match, select the Potential match and click View to open the attached module and display the record's complete details.

Note: If necessary, you could run a search in the relevant module and if a match is found, drag and drop the record into the Potential Matches list.

If you are satisfied that a match is correct, select that match in the Potential Matches list and click Accept Match.
-OR-
If you are certain that none of the matches listed under Potential Matches is valid, click Reject Match. See How To Reject Potential Matches below.

Note: It is not necessary to click Accept Match or Reject Match if you are uncertain about the validity of matches. Simply move on to the next record or exit the module.

When Accept Match is clicked, the Match Status is updated to Matched and the Clear Match button becomes available:

If it is necessary to undo a match, select the Matched record in the Potential Matches list and click Clear Match.

Note: In some Vital Records Offices it will be necessary to notify your supervisor when you have finished examining all the potential matches. A Systems Administrator will now run the Clear Matchlist Database task to clear the records from the Match List module.

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