A method, implemented by a handheld electronic book reader device, the method comprising: receiving at the handheld electronic book reader one or more electronic items; storing the one or more electronic items in a memory (6602, 6612) of the handheld electronic book reader device; performing by the handheld electronic book reader a decision whether to download or generate one or more searchable indices of the stored electronic items based on resource costs of downloading versus generating the one or more searchable indices; and in response to a decision to generate the one or more searchable indices (7402, 7404), generating one or more searchable indices of each of the stored electronic items using a hybrid indexing approach, the generating being performed by the handheld electronic book reader device, wherein generating the one or more searchable indices comprises: generating a searchable item index of terms in one of the one or more stored electronic items, the index including a list of locations of the terms appearing in the one electronic item, wherein each location in the list of locations comprises a byte offset corresponding to the locations of the term in the electronic item;and generating a searchable master index of terms for the one or more electronic items in a collection of electronic items (6604, 6614) stored in the memory of the handheld electronic book reader device, wherein the master index comprises a list of terms used in any electronic items in the collection of electronic items and, for each term, a reference to each item index of terms entry for the respective term, wherein each reference comprises an identifier of the electronic item in which the term appears, a number of times the term appears in the respective electronic item, and a position at which the term is indexed in the item index for the respective electronic item. receiving at the handheld electronic book reader one or more electronic items; storing the one or more electronic items in a memory (6602, 6612) of the handheld electronic book reader device; performing by the handheld electronic book reader a decision whether to download or generate one or more searchable indices of the stored electronic items based on resource costs of downloading versus generating the one or more searchable indices; and in response to a decision to generate the one or more searchable indices (7402, 7404), generating one or more searchable indices of each of the stored electronic items using a hybrid indexing approach, the generating being performed by the handheld electronic book reader device, wherein generating the one or more searchable indices comprises: generating a searchable item index of terms in one of the one or more stored electronic items, the index including a list of locations of the terms appearing in the one electronic item, wherein each location in the list of locations comprises a byte offset corresponding to the locations of the term in the electronic item;and generating a searchable master index of terms for the one or more electronic items in a collection of electronic items (6604, 6614) stored in the memory of the handheld electronic book reader device, wherein the master index comprises a list of terms used in any electronic items in the collection of electronic items and, for each term, a reference to each item index of terms entry for the respective term, wherein each reference comprises an identifier of the electronic item in which the term appears, a number of times the term appears in the respective electronic item, and a position at which the term is indexed in the item index for the respective electronic item. generating a searchable item index of terms in one of the one or more stored electronic items, the index including a list of locations of the terms appearing in the one electronic item, wherein each location in the list of locations comprises a byte offset corresponding to the locations of the term in the electronic item;and generating a searchable master index of terms for the one or more electronic items in a collection of electronic items (6604, 6614) stored in the memory of the handheld electronic book reader device, wherein the master index comprises a list of terms used in any electronic items in the collection of electronic items and, for each term, a reference to each item index of terms entry for the respective term, wherein each reference comprises an identifier of the electronic item in which the term appears, a number of times the term appears in the respective electronic item, and a position at which the term is indexed in the item index for the respective electronic item.