1. A method for using a computer system to provide a user interface to an electronic text, comprising in sequence the steps of: a. presenting, on a display controlled by the computer system, a portion of an outline of said electronic text, wherein: i. an element of the text comprises at least one phrase appearing in said electronic text, said at least one phrase comprising at least one word; ii. said outline comprises a plurality of elements, wherein elements of the outline comprise copies of elements of said electronic text; iii. each element of the outline represents a portion of said electronic text; iv. the combined elements of the outline comprise substantially less text than the entire said electronic text; v. substantially all portions of said electronic text are represented by at least one element of the outline; and vi. the relative positional and hierarchical relationships of elements of the outline correspond to the relative positional and hierarchical relationships of the portions of said electronic text represented by said elements of the outline; b. in response to user action, said user action consisting only of indicating at least one element of said outline, selecting for the operation of step (c) the entire portion of said electronic text represented by said at least one outline element; and c. performing an operation exclusively on the portion of electronic text selected in step (b), wherein said operation does not cause the display of said selected electronic text and wherein said operation processes all components of said selected electronic text.