This description of the scope, legal deposit basis, preparation, and printing of the Singapore National Bibliography since its inception in 1967, provides insight into the searching tasks and editing processes involved in planning a retrospective bibliography, and proposes a chronologically inverted printing scheme for pre-1967 imprints, to be published at five year intervals until completed. First printed in 1969 for the 1967 imprints and issued annually, the bibliography since 1977 has been printed quarterly with annual cumulations. Retrospective issues of the bibliography for six historical periods between 1819 and 1966 are being considered for publication in reverse chronological order--e.g., v1: 1965-66, v2: 1959-64--until the last volume, 1819-68, allowing more time for a search of early imprints. Discussion of the issues of format, scope, and coverage includes choice of classification and cataloging schemes. Thirty-one references, a bibliography of 11 titles, and an appendix of available printings of the national bibliography are provided. (RAA)