A Multi Golden Record is when two or more Golden Record entities are related to each other, i.e. the entities of the Source Modules have relations to each other. The most common case of a Multi Golden Record: Golden Contact and Golden Account. In the first step, the Golden Contact and the Golden Account are created independently of each other. Since now each contact is assigned to a Golden Contact and each company is assigned to a Golden Account, in the second step the relation from Golden Contact to Golden Account is built. The relations between the source modules and the respective Golden Record serve as a basis for this. The following illustrative example should provide more understanding:
Contact ID | Name | Account ID |
1 | Will Smith | a |
2 | W. Smith | b |
3 | Angelina Jolie | b |
4 | A. Jolie | c |
Account ID | Name |
a | Universal Pictures |
b | Warner Brothers |
c | Warner Bros |
The contacts with IDs 1 and 2 and with IDs 3 and 4 are each pooled into one Golden Contact, since the first two describe Will Smith and the last two describe Angelina Jolie. We assign the PIDs GC_1 (ID 1 and 2) and GC_2 (ID 3 and 4). The same for the accounts: GA_1 (ID a) and GA_2 (ID b and c). Now we bring the two Golden Records together and form a Multi Golden Record.
Type | PID | Source IDs |
Contacts | GC_1 | 1,2 |
Contacts | GC_2 | 3,4 |
Accounts | GA_1 | a |
Accounts | GA_2 | b,c |
In order to build the relations between the Golden Records, you now have to look up from the first two tables. Example: GC_1 subsumes the Contacts 1 & 2. The Accounts a and b are assigned to the Contacts 1 & 2 respectively. These are assigned to the Golden Accounts GA_1 and GA_2 respectively. Therefore, the Golden Contact GC_1 receives a relation to each of the two Golden Accounts. You simply continue this logic until you have run through all the records.
Golden Contact ID | Golden Account ID |
GC_1 | GA_1 |
GC_1 | GA_2 |
GC_2 | GA_2 |
Thus, the two Golden Records have an n:m relation. The diagram shows a 1:n relation. Depending on whether we allow a Golden Contact to be assigned to multiple accounts that do not subsume under the same Golden Account. Then we would have to decide whether Golden Contact 1 would be assigned to either Golden Account 1 or 2.