ABSTRACT
As containers of knowledge (see McArthur 1986), dictionaries have to provide data that contribute to the satisfaction of the lexicographic needs of their intended target users. In order to achieve this, cognizance has to be taken of the real lexicographic needs and reference skills of a clearly identified intended target user group for each dictionary. No single dictionary can either satisfy all the lexicographic needs of a general and unidentified user group nor be everything to everyone. In the planning and compilation of their dictionaries lexicographers should therefore meticulously negotiate the typical user and usage situations of their envisaged dictionaries, and this should have a determining influence on the functions, contents and structures of these dictionaries.
