1. A method for performing data identification operations involving electronic data, the method comprising: receiving an index generated by a journal application, the index identifying data interactions made by at least one other application to data objects stored on one or more primary storage devices; updating, based on the index, first metadata stored in a first metabase, wherein the updating comprises accessing the data objects to obtain the first metadata about the data objects; receiving a query comprising selection criteria associated with moving data from the one or more primary storage devices to one or more secondary storage devices; identifying with the first metabase, one or more of the data objects which meet the selection criteria without accessing the data objects stored on the primary storage device; copying the one or more of the data objects identified by the first metabase to the one or more secondary storage devices; and storing second metadata in a second metabase, the second metadata comprising information about the one or more data objects copied to the one or more secondary storage devices.