Copper and informant - or superintendent (7)
I believe the answer is:
curator
'superintendent' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'copper and informant or' is the wordplay.
'copper' becomes 'cu' (chemical symbol).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'informant' becomes 'rat' (rat is a kind of informant).
'cu'+'rat'+'or'='CURATOR'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for curator that I've seen before include "Custodian - caretaker" , "Cultural employee" , "Keeper of a collection" , "Person in charge of a museum" , "Museum official" .)