Generic function for looking up values in
        a user-specific dictionary. Use as follows::

           _lookup_user_data('path','to','desired','value','in','dictionary',
                             default = <default value>,
                             data_kind = 'customization'/'saved_searches')

def _lookup_user_data(self,*args,**kwargs):
        """
        Generic function for looking up values in
        a user-specific dictionary. Use as follows::

           _lookup_user_data('path','to','desired','value','in','dictionary',
                             default = <default value>,
                             data_kind = 'customization'/'saved_searches')

        """
        user_data = self.get_user_data()
        data_kind = kwargs.get('data_kind','customization')
        try:
            del(kwargs['data_kind'])
        except KeyError, err:
            pass
        default_value = kwargs['default']

        result =  get_dict(user_data,data_kind,*args,**kwargs)
        try:
            result = int(result)
        except:
            pass

        if not isinstance(result,default_value.__class__):
            return default_value
        else:
            return result