How does a Chinese dictionary work?

You know, I've wondered about this for years. I still don't know. But here are some notes from my online meandering in search of the answer:

On-line Chinese Tools contains a number of interesting links, including "Get a Chinese Name."

Ray's is Kong Rui su, "Sharp Revive."
Lee's is Kuang Ling en, "Soul Charity."
Mine is Kong Dao ning, "Way Peaceful."

More later...

Update:

The characters are organized by brush strokes. See here for a Chinese character dictionary.