Patent ID: 8805777

Claim:
A method to facilitate data record management, the method comprising: collapsing two or more data records into a master data record for an entity, the two or more data records stored in at least one database, and the collapsing comprising: determining attributes of the two or more data records which are to be included in the master data record for the entity; selecting a source data record from the two or more data records to become the master data record for the entity, at least one remaining data record of the two or more data records comprising at least one candidate data record to be collapsed into the master data record; updating, by a processor, the selected source data record with the determined attributes to form the master data record, wherein the updating associates at least one attribute of a candidate data record of the at least one candidate data record with the source data record, the source data record having an original set of one or more attributes, and wherein the selected source data record remains active in a database of the at least one database and becomes the master data record in response to the updating; deactivating, in the at least one database, the at least one candidate data record and maintaining the deactivated at least one candidate data record in the at least one database for potential reactivation thereof during a subsequent split of the master data record in which the master data record is to survive as the source data record with the original attributes and the deactivated at least one candidate data record is to be reactivated.