The background and results of an effort to use dBASE II, a microcomputer database management package, to establish, maintain, and update an item bank useful in a complex test development process are presented. The paper explores some of the perspectives and considerations in designing such a database which make the test development process easier, while fully utilizing the software's capabilities. It discusses principles of database design, features and advantages of a relational database schema, the structure of database files useful in test development, and a general test development process. Sample programs and output from a model system, dubbed ITEMBANK, are presented. The paper consists of a brief summary of the development effort and several extensively annotated figures. Figures discuss the nature of database design and the particular advantages of a relational database structure; describe a "dummy" database representing a microcosm of a test development effort for various forms of a fictional test used in developing the ITEMBANK programs; and discuss the four-stage test development process the system was designed to serve. The final figures concern the construction of the ITEMBANK programs and present sample printouts. Appendices list the database and programs for the draft test stage of the ITEMBANK system. (Author/DWH)