Nota Bene: It is highly recommended that the user of this document read the Introduction to obtain a fuller understanding of Dublin Core and its implementation.
This is probably the simplest of the Dublin Core elements to do, because everyone has, knows and (hopefully) can spell their own name. However, the DC creator element can contain more than just an authors name.
| TYPE | SCHEME | LANG |
|---|---|---|
Standard LC Name Authority | (default=English) Standard ISO 639 | |
email address) | ||
mailing address) | ||
associated with author) | ||
telephone number) | ||
fax number) | ||
forms of name, etc.) | ||
of homepage) |
As indicated in the table, there are many different TYPEs of name data that can be entered. There are however, standards required for some of the TYPE qualifiers. The default for the Name TYPE is structured according to the LC Name Authority File Format (default). This format is very straightforward, the last name is listed first and the first mane is listed last.
<META NAME="DC.creator.name" CONTENT="Doe, John">
That is very simple in structure. It must also be kept in mind that the name TYPE is default if it isn't specified, which means that it does not have to be appended to the DC.creator.
The next few TYPE qualifiers discussed, email, postal, affiliation, phone and fax, are intended to be used with the place of employment for the author, although it could be used for the authors home particulars. The email TYPE provides contact information to the author that may or may not be specified in the document.
<META NAME="DC.creator.email" CONTENT="gfrost@valdosta.edu">
A postal address may also be desireable, allowing user of the document to forward information that may be requested or provide contact for a myriad of reasons. This would be very helpful, particularly with corporations or organizations and libraries when the metadata is describing journal information.
<META NAME="DC.creator.postal" CONTENT="345 Some Institution, Somewhere, SP 67890">
Phone and FAX numbers, if used should follow the World Standard Format: +Country-Code Area-Code Local-Number, or:
<META NAME="DC.creator.phone" CONTENT="+00 850 644 4567">
It has also been suggested that the home telephone, address, email, and FAX information would be desireable. These are also TYPE qualifiers and are differentiated from the work information by the addition of home in front of its corresponding value. For example, HomeAddress, HomeEmail, etc. They are not separated by a space but the first letter of each word (optional) can be capitalized which does make it easier to read.
The last TYPE qualifier to be discussed is keyword. This is the most effective means of using the creator element due to the fact that every form, version and style of you name can be listed in one area separated by commas. Creators do not have to know all of the standards mentioned above. Like the subject element, keyword is appended to the META NAME value:
<META NAME="DC.creator.keyword" CONTENT="John Doe, John D. Doe, J.D. Doe, J.D., Doe, John, Doe, John D., Doe, John D., 1965-, Mr. Doe, The Dough Boy, John Dough">If an author of a Web page wanted to have his work found under any and every variant known, this is a viable approach to use. The key thing to remember is that you only have of input information that you know how to do and do not have to study up on all of these standards mentioned.