1. A method of translating a request to access data from a first data format to a second data format, comprising: receiving said request to access data for one or more attributes from a data store, said request including a filter for accessing the data of said one or more attributes and wherein at least one or more attributes are multivalued; determining said data store from a plurality of data stores to service said request, wherein the plurality of data stores comprises a relational database and an LDAP directory, said LDAP directory including said at least one multivalued attribute, and wherein determining said data store comprises identifying partitioning criteria to associate a data type with each data store from said plurality of data stores and evaluating said partitioning criteria against said filter; accessing a mapping catalog customizable for a relational database schema, said mapping catalog identifying one or more portions of one or more tables in said relational database that stores said data for said one or more attributes, and identifying a classification for each of the one or more attributes, said relational database corresponding to said relational database schema; translating at least a portion of said request from said first data format to a form suitable for said relational database, said step of translating based on said classification of each attribute and said filter, said step of translating including mapping said at least one multivalued attribute to said relational database; and providing said translated request to said relational database.