In the early days FedWorld was crammed with data from every federal department, division, agency and cubby hole that had an online presence. Additionally, the original communications format -- file transfer protocol (FTP) -- was confusing to the point of shouting. Fortunately, FedWorld embraced the Web right after it was invented in 1990, and gradually has turned this incredible site into a premier source of federal government information.

Two alerts before you jump in -- despite huge improvements, FedWorld is still navigationally challenged. First, you will suffer through a few visits before you gain a sense of familiarity. Second, much of the material must be purchased. But don't let either of these minor details hinder your enthusiasm for this gigantic warehouse of documents, studies, reports and sundry other data funded by the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), part of the US Commerce Department.

Unless you know specifically what you want, start by browsing through the FedWorld Information Network. This is a long list of the various services and databases available, including access to the FTP and telnet sites. A similar browse list is available by clicking the Browse List of 20+ different FedWorld Databases link. You can explore this list for hours, but a few links deserve immediate mention.

FLITE, the U.S. Supreme Court database of cases from 1937-75, volumes 300-422 of US Reports, is searchable by party name or keyword. The FLITE collection, an acronym for Federal Legal Information Through Electronics, was maintained by the US Air Force until 1976 when West Publishing Co. took over. (West, now the West Group, is a part of the Thomson Corporation) Only Findlaw offers a more comprehensive, free collection of cases, ranging from 1893 to the present.

Tax Forms and Instructions allows you to search for IRS forms in Adobe Acrobat PDF files, dated back to 1992, along with an assortment of other IRS publications. You will need the free Acrobat Reader to get the forms. The savory aspect of this service compared to going to the IRS version is the depth and clarity of the instructions. The Federal Job Announcement Search  gives you access to a database of about 1,500 job announcements, updated each morning, Tuesday through Saturday.

Although they're more research oriented rather than legal specific, don't overlook the fee-based services. The prices are listed for each service. The Agency for Healthcare Services and Quality offers about 3,000 bibliographic records of documents produced since 1964. The Government Research Center provides a host of databases for various topics, including agriculture, science, technology and nuclear energy. The World News Connection lets you search for news from thousands of non-US media sources.

Lastly, three search engines allow keyword exploration of the databases, documents and reports at FedWorld and other federal sites while Search US Government Reports lets you look through more than 480,000 government reports from more than 200 agencies. Explore US Government Web Sites gives you access to federal pages outside of FedWorld, and provides direct links to numerous sites, like the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (Unfortunately you can't use your browser's "Back" button to return to FedWorld's home page, an annoying feature on an increasingly number of Web sites.)

While FedWorld still has its shortcomings, it is certainly not short on information. It is an example of staying power and innovation as it reshapes itself in the ever changing world of the Internet.

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