1. A method for retrieving a desired postal address from a plurality of postal addresses, the method comprising: a) receiving input data having one or more input terms for finding the desired postal address from a first database including data representing the plurality of postal addresses, each postal address being formed of one or more postal address elements; b) searching a dictionary for entries in the dictionary corresponding to one or more of the input terms, each entry in the dictionary corresponding to at least one of the postal address elements of the first database, wherein the dictionary is in the form of a tree data structure having a plurality of nodes including a root node and a multiplicity of leaf nodes, a path from the root node to one of the leaf nodes representing one of the postal address elements; and c) outputting data representing a postal address, if any, represented in the first database that has postal address elements that correspond with each of the entries of the dictionary that correspond to the input data.