1. A system comprising computer-executable instructions embodied on a computer-readable storage medium that when executed on one or more processors facilitates retrieval of data from a context hierarchy, comprising: a context search component that accesses a hierarchical data store, the hierarchical data store comprising a plurality of data items, each data item categorized under one or more relevant contexts selected from a plurality of contexts, the plurality of contexts organized in a context hierarchy such that each of the plurality of contexts includes at least one link to another contexts in a parent-child relationship; a query component that receives a search query identifying a search term to be located in a hierarchical data store, a starting context within the hierarchical data store, and a navigation strategy for navigating the context hierarchy of contexts when searching for data items matching the identified search term; a navigation component that traverses the context hierarchy according to the identified navigation strategy beginning at the identified starting context in order to locate and retrieve at least one data object matching the identified search term; and a user interface that facilitates selection of the navigation strategy from a list of possible navigation strategies that includes at least an ascending navigation strategy, a descending navigation strategy, and a sibling navigation strategy.