IPhoto MESS: Multiple iphoto libraries duplicate photos

Sorry folks - this is one of those "big data" messes. I know there's a problem - just looking for a solution.
I have multiple iPhoto Libraries (unintentional) due to an old iMac which had died. There are three libraries:
Default(rebuilt) 121.41GB (current)
iPhoto Library 70GB (9 months ago)
iPhoto Starage Image.sparseimage 60.98GB (9 months ago)
It seems I'm using the first one above Default(rebuilt). That's item one.
The next deal is that I have LOADs of duplicates on the hard disk. In iPhoto I'll find an image and it's a 20kb file (low res) and really would like to have the high res file. Once I search for it - I find like three or more copies of the photo with some at 20kb and some at full res. Unfortunately iPhoto does not point to the high res files.
There are all sorts of consolidation and de-dup apps out there (iPhoto Duplicate Annihilator, Tidy Up..), but I'm not sure about this big mess. Probably take days to correct.
Is there a way to ensure that I have:
Highest Resolution of Each Photo
One Version of the Photo (No Duplicates)
One Library
Anyone help me out here?
Also seeking a better way to manage large numbers of files (iPhoto, Aperature, Lightroom, Picasa) - thinking the last two might actually be easier to mangage the issues I'm having...
THANKS!!
iMac 27 (3.4Ghz Core i7, 4GB)
Mac OS X - 10.7.5
iPhoto '11 - 9.2.3 (629.52)

As I understand it iPhoto manages all the photos in one large file within the iPhoto library. This makes it very cumbersome to load and extremeIy slow to work with as the number of photos stored in the library file increases.
It doesn't. It stores the files in folders in the Finder. Speed issues are more a function of disk space and Ram.
Assuming one can get the files all sorted out, there is at least one software application that I am aware of that uses an indexing system to manage subgroups of photos you define and by referencing the larger iPhoto library. It is called IPhoto Buddy
iPhoto Buddy is a pointless app that simply allows you to choose between iPhoto Libraries. You can do exactly the same simply by holding the option (or alt) key when launching iPhoto. It indexes nothing and hasn't been developed for several years now. From their own website:
iPhoto Buddy is fully compatible with every version of Apple's iLife suite, from iLife '04 through iLife '09.
Regards
TD

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I am going to upgrade from Tiger to Snow Leopard (Bundle Pack) and from iPhoto 6 to iPhoto 8. My wife and I have separate accounts on our MacBook Pro and I have combined our iPhoto Libraries onto an external hard drive using iPhoto Library Manager. Afterwards, I opened the Mac HD icon on my desktop, opened the pictures folder, went through the iPhoto Library folder, and opened the Originals folder. I deleted my photos through here which kept the thumbnail data (when I open iPhoto, I can see all of my photos, I just can't enlarge them beyond a certain size or I get a grayed out image with an exclamation point). I have since done the same for some of my wife's photos to free up space. This has been sort of useful to know what photos we have while not eating up the hard drive.
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IPhoto MESS: Multiple iphoto libraries duplicate photos

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