Portions of this article originally appeared in "Vignettes," the newsletter of the Agricultural Trade and Marketing Information Center at the National Agricultural Library.
The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) introduced FedWorld in November 1992 to help businesses with accessing Federal information online, thus bringing more than 100 federally operated online computer systems under a single umbrella.
FedWorld is a clearinghouse for the Government's electronic marketplace for information. Through the Internet or a telephone line, it provides you with direct access to any of these online computer systems and bulletin boards (BBS). You will not need another phone number, modem setting, or computer name to connect to sources of information such as: White House press releases; National Performance Review report and updates; health care reports; NTIS product information; Federal job listings (updated weekly); small business advice; Federal property for sale; currency exchange rates (updated daily); consumer information; Department of Commerce's Economic Bulletin Board reporting economic indicators; and the National Agricultural Library's BBS, the Agricultural Library Forum (ALF).
To connect to FedWorld, all you need is a personal computer and a modem. To connect to FedWorld via modem, dial (703) 321-8020 (Ed. note: This is not a free call). Set the parity to NONE, Data Bits to 8, and Stop Bit to 1(N-8-1); set the terminal emulation to ANSI or VT-100. FedWorld accommodates speeds up to 9600 baud. To connect to FedWorld through the Internet, telnet to: fedworld.gov.
When you first connect to FedWorld, you will be asked to sign on using your first and then last name. Your name will become your login. You will then be directed to assign yourself a password. Use your login and password each subsequent time you connect to FedWorld. When you first connect you will receive a new users' mail message explaining the use of NTIS FedWorld. As you work through the system, a menu of appropriate options is always provided at the bottom of the screen.
There are several important menu choices from the main FedWorld Menu:
SELECTION A - The Locator Access Retrieval System, allows you to search for keywords in several important current government publications.
SELECTION B - The Main Information Menu, gives general information concerning FedWorld and access to significant NTIS media announcements.
SELECTION D- Leads to the FedWorld Gateway, which provides access to over 100 government bulletin boards. (See NTIS FedWorld Gateway BBS list) The bulletin board systems are menu-driven, but some are more user-friendly than others. Most of these bulletin boards (BBS) require a sign-on. Other use restrictions may apply. Read the information provided carefully.
FedWorld is offered free of charge except for a few bulletin board services which require a paid subscription. The FedWorld system runs on a BBS software platform called the Major BBS by Galacticomm. More than 60 incoming lines are available.
For technical assistance with FedWorld or questions, please call (703) 487-4608, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (EST). You may also leave questions in the form of E-mail on FedWorld addressed to Sysop (Systems Operator).
(Information on FedWorld was provided by Robert Bunge, National Technical Information Service (NTIS), U.S. Department of Commerce, Springfield, VA; tel: (703) 487-4608.)
The Agricultural Library Forum (ALF) is the National Agricultural Library's (NAL) electronic bulletin board. It may be accessed via Telnet to FedWorld, the NTIS (U.S. Department of Commerce) bulletin board and gateway system; or it may be accessed via personal computer.
The bulletin board (available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week) is open to all those interested in agricultural (including animal welfare) information issues.
The Agricultural Library Forum Brief Guide is available to help participants get started on ALF. It describes the system's major features and how to use them effectively. To request a copy of the "Brief Guide," send a self-addressed gummed label to: NAL, Reference and User Services Branch, Room 111, ATTN: Publication Distribution, 10301 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, MD 20705-2351.
For technical assistance with ALF or questions, please contact Karl Schneider, Sysop, telephone: (301) 504-5113 or Internet: kschneid@nal.usda.gov
New callers to FedWorld must first register on the FedWorld BBS system.
To reach ALF, callers need a computer terminal or computer, a modem, and communications software. The telephone numbers are (301) 504-6510, (301) 504-5111, (301) 504-5496, or (301) 504-5497. Communications software should be set at either 300, 1200, 2400, or 9600 baud, full duplex, no parity, 8 data bits, and 1 stop bit.
Many AWIC publications; the Animal Welfare Act and its regulations; Public Health Service laws, policies and guidelines; GLP for Nonclinical Laboratory Studies; GLP Standards; and other items can be retrieved from the files located on ALF.
After you have logged onto ALF, you will be in the main ALF bulletin board. At the MORE prompt, answer NO. You will be presented with a series of questions (the number of questions will vary depending upon whether new bulletins, files, or mail have been posted since your last login); type NO to each question. After the last question, you will enter the MAIN commands menu. Type F (for files) and you will access the Files menu. Type L(ist) animal and you will now see the list of AWIC files along with a brief description of each file. You will notice that the files have either a TXT or ZIP extension. TXT files are ASCII files and ZIP files have been compressed using PKZIP204G software. To uncompress these files, you can download the PKZIP software by typing D(ownload) PKZIP204G.EXE. (You do not have to download the PKZIP software every time.) At this point, you will need to enter the appropriate communications software commands for downloading files. This will depend on your particular software package. The ALF screen will indicate that it is downloading the file and give you the approximate transfer time. You can now download any AWIC files of interest using the full filename with extension, e.g., D QB9416.ZIP.
To unzip the retrieved materials, we have found it easiest to transfer the materials to the directory of our communication software ( e.g., Crosstalk), and uncompress the materials at the DOS prompt. This is accomplished by simply typing PKUNZIP [filename.ext], e.g. PKUNZIP QB9416.ZIP. The uncompressed file can then be retrieved into your word processing system.
We hope that you will find it easy to use the ALF system for retrieval of AWIC electronic documents. Please call us at (301) 504-6212 with any comments or cries for help.
With the generous assistance of Dr. Ken Boschert, many of the same AWIC materials found on ALF can also be found on the NETVET gopher at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. The host name is netvet.wustl.edu (or 128.252.235.17). For more information on this service you can contact Dr. Boschert at ken@wudcm.wustl.edu.
You can also access AWIC materials through the National Agricultural Library's (NAL) Gopher. The host name is gopher.nal.usda.gov 70. For more information on the NAL Gopher contact Bill Feidt, chief of NAL's Library Automation Branch, at wfeidt@nal.usda.gov.
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Contents, Animal Welfare Information Center
Newsletter
Top of Document
The Animal Welfare Information Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service
National Agricultural Library
10301 Baltimore Ave.
Beltsville, MD 20705-2351
Phone: (301) 504-6212
FAX: (301) 504-7125
E-mail: awic@nal.usda.gov
