For me, this problem is manifested in referencing bible verses. I love my Kindle, but use it once and you quickly learn that it wasn't designed for random access.
This. Try opening right to Mathew on an e-reader. Then try to realize you need to take a look at another scripture so you keep your finger between the pages you are on flip back a bit read what you need then then easily return to where you were. This holds true in programming books as well.
As pointed out note tasking is less natural in digital format.
In many books, such as DnD books, I know I can find certain rules (or other needed information,) by about where they are in the book.
The Kindle version of the ESV Bible makes clever use of the Kindle's index feature. All the verses in the Bible are indexed using abbreviated book names. So if I want to reach John 3:16, I hit Menu -> Index and type "jn 3 16<enter>". I'd rather have proper fuzzy matching ("jhn 3 16" wouldn't work, you need the exact abbreviation), but it's a workable substitute.
