Author
This is a person who contributed to make/write the learning object. Please note that the provider is where the learning object is hosted. It must not be mistaken with the publisher which is the organization that produced/funded the learning object. The author is a person who contributed to make the learning object.
So for example if we have a MOOC from Coursera with professor X from Stanford, then we would have: - provider is coursera - publisher is stanford - author is professor X
On the other hand, if the learning object is an article hosted on stanford website by professor Y, then we would have - provider is stanford - publisher is stanford - author is professor Y