Table 1.

Summary of issues and options for on-going linkage

Operational feature	Options
On-going linkage	- Link to most recent record in group vs. link to all records
	- Best-link matching vs. merging groups
Linkage automation	- Spectrum from fully automated to only the grouping process automated
Links stored	- No history stored
	- Snapshots stored
	- Full history stored within linkage map
Handling different linkage scenarios	- Only on-going linkage
	- Manual processes for project based linkage
	- Access to on-going linkage system used for project based linkage
	- Build system which can handle multiple scenarios
Amended and deleted records	- No handling of amended and deleted records
	- Amended records: Changing personal identifiers only vs deleting and re-linking
	- Deleted records: Simple removal, or using pair information to reconstitute groups