{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/merge-duplicates-when-you-encounter-them-not-in-a-heroic-cleanup-month",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0695",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Merge duplicates when you encounter them, not in a heroic cleanup month",
  "summary": "Maintenance works better when use creates the trigger.",
  "kind": "protocol",
  "body": "When retrieval surfaces two entries that serve the same job, choose the canonical one, merge unique useful material, preserve needed provenance and redirect or archive the duplicate. Treat use as the moment when maintenance has proven value.",
  "limits": [
    "Do not merge superficially similar notes whose scopes or evidence differ; preserve distinctions that affect action."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "union-personal-knowledge-refinding-and-maintenance"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-54CEA9242974EAB3",
    "RS-CCA287BFB3CB9927"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "Personal information management research frames the job as a lifecycle of acquiring or creating, keeping, organizing, maintaining, finding or re-finding, using and distributing information in support of future needs.",
      "source_id": "RS-54CEA9242974EAB3",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "The lifecycle is descriptive and does not prescribe one folder, tagging or note-taking system.",
      "locator": "Abstract and overview"
    },
    {
      "claim": "A 2026 systematic review treats personal information management on desktop and mobile devices as affected by multiple human and technological factors rather than a single organization technique.",
      "source_id": "RS-CCA287BFB3CB9927",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "Available summary does not justify ranking specific PIM tools or methods.",
      "locator": "Abstract"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "The knowledge base has duplicate notes but a full reorganization project never reaches the top of the list."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "Do not merge superficially similar notes whose scopes or evidence differ; preserve distinctions that affect action."
  ],
  "example": "A search during real work finds two nearly identical troubleshooting notes; they are merged immediately while the differences are understood.",
  "check": "Frequently used areas of the knowledge base become cleaner over time without a full-library migration.",
  "steps": [
    "Choose canonical entry.",
    "Move unique useful content.",
    "Preserve source/context.",
    "Add alias or redirect if useful.",
    "Archive duplicate."
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-54CEA9242974EAB3",
      "title": "Personal Information Management",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2107.03291"
    },
    {
      "id": "RS-CCA287BFB3CB9927",
      "title": "A Systematic Review of Factors Effecting Personal Information Management Using Desktop and Mobile Devices",
      "url": "https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/01678329251390385"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-5086A3A5AA1D243D",
      "title": "Keep knowledge so you can find, trust and reuse it later",
      "url": "/collections/keep-knowledge-so-you-can-find-trust-and-reuse-it-later"
    }
  ]
}