a system and method for organizing and retrieving data is provided . the present invention replicates existing data in a format that is representative of naturally occurring relationships associated with the elements in the data . the data is organized into groups which represent a collection of information including one or more data fields . these groups are organized into a hierarchy based on relationships in the underlying data referred to as mappings . the hierarchy provides an organizational structure that is flexible in terms of traversing , organizing , searching , and presenting data . this organization structure is also conducive for extracting a portion of the database relevant to a particular purpose and replicating that portion elsewhere , such as on a palmtop computer , personal data apparatus , etc . data is extracted from the database in a context that includes all information relevant to an item of data at a top , or parent , level of the hierarchy . the context provides a useful way for a user to analyze data within each of the various contexts in which that item of data exists .