Deleting Records

One of the most frequently asked questions is "How do I delete a member?" and the answer is always "Why do you want to?"
This isn't meant to be an annoying retort, it's extremely important to understand the motivation behind deleting a record from the system. Here's why:

• Deletion is forever. Once you delete a record, you cannot 'undelete' it (there is NO undo for deleting a record).
• Duplicate records must be carefully reviewed before deleting, especially if the duplicate wasn't caught right away. Duplicate records often create 'parallel' information. For example, you may have a member listed twice (once with a middle initial and once without), but each 'record' contains different information. Before the duplicate is deleted, the information must be reconciled or the information will be lost. Moreover, if one of the duplicates has been used in an event or training, you'll create a 'data hole' on the deletion of that record. If a duplicate is found, it's important to know how long it's been in the system and where it's been used.
• Deleting is NOT the best practice for de-activating members. If a member moves away or decides to 'retire' from the unit, switch the member's status to 'inactive' by un-checking the active box. When you delete an active or formerly active member, you create a 'data hole' where that member participated in past events.

How do I delete a record?

1. Before you do ANY deleting, make a copy of your database. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP.
2. Open the record to be deleted. Click on any of the name fields. This is to ensure that you are on the right record.
3. On the menu at the top of the screen, click on Edit.
4. From the Edit drop-down list, select Delete Record.
5. The MRCDB will inform you that you are about to delete a record and requires you to confirm this delete. Once you confirm, you cannot restore this record.
6. Remember to backup the edited database, but only after you are SURE that you don't need to restore any records.

When is it OK to delete a record?

• When you're in the process of data entry and you realize that you've entered a member twice with a slight variation on the name. The MRCDB checks a person's first and last name and middle initial to see if you already have that person in the system, but it can't check typos or omissions. If you enter "John Smith" and then "Jon Smith" that's two different names. So is "John R. Smith" Something as trivial as a period after the middle initial will create a difference between one record and another: "John Q. Public" is not the same as "John Q Public"
• When you've found a duplicate and reconciled the data.

How do I reconcile data?

The process of reconciling data can be time consuming. When you find a duplicate, you need to print out a member report on each one. Select your 'keeper' record, then add to it any data points that exist on the record you want to delete. For example: You find "John Smith" and "Jon Smith" in your system. You decide to delete the "Jon Smith" record. Print out both member records and review. You find that "Jon" has a CPR certification but "John" does not. You need to add the CPR certification to "John." Likewise any data point (immunizations, event attendance, etc.) that exist on Jon's record but NOT on John's. You don't need to add things that are already duplicated; the object of reconciliation is to produce one record (the 'keeper') that contains all the data from both.

What if I accidentally delete a record?

Let's say for the sake of argument that you were so excited about deleting duplicates that it got out of hand and you deleted a few more records than you intended to. All is not lost. Although there is no way to undo a deleted record, you can re-enter a lost record and rebuild the history of that member. If you've deleted a lot of records, your backup database may contain the deleted records. You can go back to the backup version of the database you made before you started deleting and simply re-delete the records (not the ones you didn't mean to!).fs