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 ("PDA"), 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.