While looking at keeping history for some tables one method often mentioned goes as follows "If data is modified or deleted, the original record is not updated; instead a new record is created that holds the latest information. The new (most recent) record becomes the live record (active), while all previous records form the history." Is there a reason to not do the following? "If data is modified, a new record is created that holds the old information and references the original record. The original record is updated; The new (most recent) record becomes the historic record. Timestamps are set accordingly. If a record is deleted only the timestamps are set (soft delete). The reason, ID's stay the same for the active record as they are referenced in several places. ID's can be kept unique.