2. A method in accordance with claim 1 , wherein generating a binary index key for each of the character strings in the set of character strings comprises comparing an n-gram representation of a selected one of the character strings in the set of character strings and an n-gram representation of each of a set of dissimilar reference character strings, wherein an i-th bit of the binary index key represents a degree of matching of the candidate string with the i-th reference character string.
2. A method in accordance with claim 1 , wherein generating a binary index key for each of the character strings in the set of character strings comprises comparing an n-gram representation of a selected one of the character strings in the set of character strings and an n-gram representation of each of a set of dissimilar reference character strings, wherein an i-th bit of the binary index key represents a degree of matching of the candidate string with the i-th reference character string. 3. A method in accordance with claim 2 , wherein i-th bit in the binary index key is set to a logical 1 if that record matches the i-th reference string above a predetermined threshold.