I'm part of the transition generation who were taught book-skills but didn't use them much by the time we entered work, thanks mostly to the internet and all the hilarious cat videos it brought us.
Knowing how to search for information, even on paper, undoubtedly supported the acceptance and use of technology that blossomed in the 90s and 2000s. A decade on and the ability to search through an index is not yet obsolete: it translates onto screens in the form of timetables, menus, sub-menus, alphabetical and numerical ordering, contents pages and (my personal favourite) the lengthy PDF document which never quite navigates how you want.
Any skill that helps you sort, locate and order information is more relevant than ever, at a time when the quantity of information being produced every minute exceeds imagination http://aci.info/2014/07/12/the-data-explosion-in-2014-minute-by-minute-infographic/
We tackle the dictionary work at year 3/4 level lightly with a view to keeping it fun; we go on a treasure hunt for words between words, find a few definitions and learn some new vocabulary along the way.
If there's ever a global catastrophe and all internet communications are down, we will be the ones laughing as we confidently check our spelling, from apocalypse to zombie...
