Creator and Contributor Definitions

Sometimes it is difficult to tell whether a person/organization should be included as a creator (someone primarily responsible for creating the item) or a contributor (someone secondarily responsible for the item).

Creator or Contributor?

In some cases it depends on the kind of role. 

A person or organization related to the item but not directly related to its creation is a contributor including:

• donors
• funders
• committee members (for theses and dissertations)

In some cases it depends on the item. 

For example, a photographer might be a creator of:

• a photograph (negative or print)
  
• a book of images
• a slide
  

But a a photographer might be a contributor for:

• a yearbook
• a postcard
• a newspaper

 

Examples:

* Items marked with an asterisk are restricted to the UNT community - the records are viewable but non-UNT users cannot view/listen to the actual objects.

Other Notes

• The UNT guidelines do not limit the number of creators or contributors.  However, due to time constraints, we will sometimes choose a specific number for a project.  For example, we might include all creators, but only the first five (5) contributors for all objects in a particular project.
• For formatting guidelines for creators and contributors, see the Creator page and the Contributor page.