Examine a standard hard copy dictionary and then write up the procedure you would use to look up a given word.

What if the dictionary did not have headwords?
What if it had an index?
What if it were on a scroll?
Try to invent the worst possible "obvious" algorithm for looking up a word in a dictionary.
If the dictionary has 100 pages, each with about 25 words, how many pages, on average will that method involve looking at?