Given our understanding of the concepts of context and domain, we can then reexamine the document-
centered approach. The document-centered approach starts with an analysis of the document to
establish ‘‘its subject content’’ (ISO, 1985, Section 1.4). The subject is then expressed according to the
needs and use in the domain. The document-centered approach moves from an analysis of the document
to the use in the domain (see Fig. 1). In the document-centered approach the indexer will primarily ask:
‘‘What is the subject matter of the document?’’ The focal point is to analyze the document to determine
what the document is about. The indexer might move on and ask: ‘‘In which parts of the subjects matter
will the users be interested?’’ However, the aim of the indexer is to establish the subject matter independently
of any particular use and domain and only place the document in a particular use after the
analysis of the document and the establishment of the subject matter has taken place. The basic
assumption in the document-centered approach is that it is possible to establish the documents subject
matter and select the subjects that are appropriate for a given domain. The focus of the document centered
approach is on the documents intrinsic meaning and subject matter and on the translation of
the subject matter into the users needs.