Merge Rejections

Question

I'm getting a bit perturbed by something that keeps happening and I want to be sure I am understanding things correctly.

2 profiles are proposed to be merged. They are not identical. But if you research the person, it can be discovered with more than one source that the one profile is correct.  The other profile has information that relates to the profile correctly, but one date is wrong (birthdate). So the match is rejected because of the differing birthdates. I think the merge should be approved and the birthdate on the one profile changed (as it has no source) to match the other.

Am I wrong here?

Comments

The problem is, if there are any differences, someone has to then decide which to keep and which to discard.

You should make the appropriate changes before proposing the merge, that way, there will be no question that the two profiles represent the same person.

I have a couple of proposed merges where everything matches except their birth location -- one says Kentucky, the other says Virgina (of course, depending on the year, these could actually be the same). I have to do more research to know which to keep and which to discard, and why.

Present your research so that the ones completing the merge can verify your decisions.

---

I meant to make that an "answer" instead of a "comment" :(

Answer 1

Your right. Unfortunately not everyone sees it that way. Not everyone wants the merges to take place. Not everyone understands the system.

I usually add a source proving the correct material to the profile with the wrong date and leave a comment. Then I follow up in a few days or weeks, change the date and re-propose the merge. If it were to get rejected again, I might contact an arborist (although that usually doesn't happen once the offending date has been changed.)

Answer 2

No, you are not wrong!

As an arborist, I would remove the rejected merge, and initiate a new merge with a comment on the correct birth date with a source.

Answer 3

Sometimes the PM -- especially if they're new here, or not very active -- is confused by the differences, and that's why they reject the merge.  If we can find a source to show them the correct dates, that's a huge plus.  You can also note, in your merge proposal, that some dates are unsourced, and that both can be noted in the merged bio pending further research.

Answer 4

A lot of rejections are "same person, but...".  People don't get that, in a case like that, they aren't supposed to block the merge, they're supposed to approve it.  They aren't being awkward - they're answering the wrong question because the question isn't stated clearly.

Comments

and it can be a very big but... :)