Abstract: The Ethnobotanical Information Bank is an integrated,stable,serial by time and space database set,which records the information data,property data and multimedia data based on time and space that comes from the description phase and the explanation phase of ethnobotanical study in graphics context,and can be used for data processing and analysis,and decision making based on specific subjects.The ethnobotanical information bank can be created with the development of modern information technology (IT).The need for a coordinated information bank is important to the preservation of ethnobotanical information. Although there are presently many databases they are not easy to use at the application stage.This paper provides a detailed description on the methodology,structure and contents to design an information bank,and the steps to set up an information bank,using an ethnomedical information bank as an example.It is suggested that the ethnobotanical information bank should be developed using modern information technology,constructed and shared by local people,governmental officials and researchers through WWW techniques,and serving different applications,subjects,queries,consultation and decisionmaking by clients.Finally,the paper discusses the importance of the ethnobotanical information bank and the challenges of setting up the ethnobotanical information bank.

Key words: Ethnomedicinal information bank；Medicinal plant resource；Methodologies and contents