1. A method for processing a data object for a database, wherein the database comprises data representing a first data model and a set of one or more mapping rules, the method comprising: receiving a data object, the data object conforming to a second data model; selecting at least one of the mapping rules, the mapping rules providing a mapping between a set of elements of the second data model and a corresponding set of elements of the first data model; applying the selected mapping rules to transform a set of elements of the received data object into a corresponding set of elements of a target data object conforming to the first data model; and searching the database for the set of elements of the target data object to identify instances of the target data object in the database.