dcauthor

Dcauthor is a term that can appear in various computing and metadata contexts, but it does not have a single, universally accepted definition. Its meaning depends on the project or domain in which it is used. In metadata practice, the standard Dublin Core element for the author is dc:creator. Some nonstandard schemas or project-specific schemas may use the field name dcauthor as a shorthand for the author or creator. In such usage, the dcauthor field typically stores a name, identifier, or URI identifying the item’s author.

In software projects, dcauthor can appear as a repository name, a package name, a configuration key, or a variable. Because there is no central registry for this term, occurrences are project-specific and may vary in format, including plain text names, ORCID URLs, or user handles. Developers might use dcauthor in documentation or configuration files to indicate who authored or contributed to a resource.

When encountering dcauthor, it is important to consult the relevant project’s documentation to determine its precise meaning and expected format. If the project adheres to Dublin Core conventions, the canonical author field would be dc:creator rather than dcauthor. See also Dublin Core, metadata, creator, author.