User-centered indexing

Two distinct approaches describe the process of indexing. The document-oriented approach claims that indexing summarizes or represents the content of a document. The user-oriented approach requires that indexing reflect the requests for which a document might be relevant. Most indexing, in practice as well as in theory, subscribe to both, but the document-oriented approach has enjoyed most visibility. While request-oriented indexing is a user-centered approach, it is very difficult to implement with human, a priori indexing. Automated indexing with its dynamic and flexible nature is most fit to tailor indexing to requirements of individual users and requests, yet most of current research in the area focuses on the development of global methods. Regardless of the method, user-centered indexing cannot be developed before searching behavior is understood better. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.