Susan Butler is the Editor of the Macquarie Dictionary, Australia’s national dictionary, and, as Editor, is largely responsible for the selection and writing of new words. In late 2013 the Sixth Edition of the dictionary was published, with a revised and updated range of dictionaries in print, online and in digital and app forms. She has begun her work on the Seventh Edition. She has written the Dinkum Dictionary, a book of origins of Australianisms, published in its third edition in 2009.  She has also written The Aitch Factor, a collection of notes and commentary on aspects of Australian English which was published in August 2014. She is also a regular commentator on Australian English on radio, television and the internet.

Richard Tardif was Publisher of MacquarieNet, which was an online general reference site designed for Australian schools and published online by Macquarie Dictionary Publishing. He was responsible for overall direction of the site including oversight of selection and creation of content, interface, databasing, programming and policy development. Richard has a great interest in Chinese literature and calligraphy, and has published an ebook which is a novel based in the Song Dynasty.

Abstract: The dictionary as a very special kind of text. There is a constant tension between the desire to convey the facts that are of relevance to the general reader while writing a flowing definition that will be readable at worst and engaging at best. In the past the desire to write concisely was dictated by the constraints imposed by the printed book. Online these constraints fall away but there is still a governing style to a definition that limits the writer to the essential details and no more. Deciding what is essential requires a certain skill. …We are acutely conscious at the dictionary of language change as illustrated in the lexical items that appear in Macquarie Word of the Year, but usage changes probably give us all the greatest grief.