There are four problems in modern composition bibliography that result directly from the continuing research paradigm instability in the field. The first problem is that of definition. Composition is a hybrid, practical sort of field, with very ill-defined and shifting boundaries. The recent extension of composition from "formal writing instruction" towards "writing broadly considered" is making bibliographical decisions about the subject-definition much more difficult than they used to be. The second problem in that of taxonomy and terminology. To have usable, long term cumulative and retrospective bibliographies for composition, bibliographers need some kind of metalanguage for their index terms so that they can classify and make retrievable research conducted within older as well as within the several different recent research paradigms. Third, writing about composition raises problems for academic bibliographers, because they are unused to coping with material that varies so much in publication format and varies also in the purpose and audience for which the writing is intended. The fourth major difficulty lies in the professional segmentation of the field. The proliferation of overlapping associations, conferences, conventions, commissions, interest groups, and organizational letterheads has hindered, not helped, the development of professional coherence among composition researchers. Professional bibliographies must increasingly come to serve as comprehensive repositories of record, not just as short term orientating tools. (HOD)