This guide is divided into four parts. Part I, an introduction, contains a discussion of why item banking has failed thus far to become a widely accepted procedure for test development, as well as some miscellaneous information on item banking that may be useful. In Part 2, completed questionnaires from 22 organizations with item banks give information about content and size of the banks, services available from the sponsoring organization, etc. The results of an item bank telephone survey with representatives of state departments of education are presented in Part 3. Finally, in Part 4, several of the problems associated with item banking and item classifications are discussed, and possible solutions are offered. (Author/RL)