Method of entering and using handwriting to identify locations within an electronic book

A method for controlling a screen display of an electronic book. The contents of the book are displayed on a screen of the computer system as pages with which the user interacts by a pointer such as a pen or stylus. The content engine performs various functions including one or more of the following: (1) creating page displays for content of the book, (2) providing a navigation interface for identifying material in the book and moving to desired locations, (3) finding character strings located within the book, and (4) accepting handwritten information on pages of the book. The electronic book includes a "bookmark" button which when selected displays a bookmark icon and inserts a bookmark in the book at the page that is currently displayed. Thereafter the user can close the book or move to another page and automatically return to the marked page by selecting the bookmark icon. The user can also move to other pages by scrolling with scroll keys or other navigational devices such as tables of contents browsers and menu pages which are provided on the computer system.