Hi Mike,
we do this in conjunction with versioning our records, makes it very easy to pull associations through history. You’re definitely on the right track.
I've used the acts_as_paranoid plugin successfully for this.
Mike,
I've implemented exactly what you're talking about, sans gems/ plugins. I starting down that road on deciding which plugin to use but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn't need a plugin...my needs were pretty simple. The problem I had with the plugins was how they changed your AR finders behind the scenes. I implemented my own named scopes and it works fine for me.
Thanks all...I decided to forgoe the plugins/gems because the authors of both of the recommended ones (acts_as_paranoid and is_paranoid) have both decided that named scopes are the way to go for this.