Buin is a Papuan language of southeast Bougainville, and the manuscript of this dictionary was compiled by Don Laycok in the last twenty years or so of this life. When he realised in 1988 that he was terminally ill, he though about the things he wanted to achieve in the months that remained to him. Academically, the most important was the completion of his Buin dictionary, and he worked on this as far as his strength allowed. In his final days he asked his colleagies in the Department of Linguistics at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies of the Australian National University to ensure its publication.

This has taken longer than anyone might have foreseen, largely because of the need for a suitable editor. In 1994 Masayuki Onishi completed his PhD on the neighbouring language Motuna and volunteered to edit the dictionary. This he has done, seeking to remain as true as possible to Don's manuscript and Don's intentions, aided by Don'e wife Tania and daughter Melany.