Is there a central place I can look for information from U.S. Government agencies?

Your Internet Consultant - The FAQs of Life Online

9.6. Is there a central place I can look for information from U.S. Government agencies?

Yes! FedWorld offers Internet users access to over one hundred U.S. Federal government Bulletin Board Systems. This project has been set up by the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) to provide access to Federal government documents and files, national databases, and programs offered by the various participating agencies and departments. FedWorld is a gateway to an enormous repository of information from the U.S. Government.

To access FedWorld, Telnet to fedworld.gov. Due to a great interest in this service, FedWorld can be difficult to reach. Persistence, however, does pay as it opens the browser to such information sources as the National Agricultural Library BBS, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, The Bureau of Mines Bulletin Board Network, the NASA NODIS Locator System, Stat and Local FEMA user groups, DoD Export license Tracking System, DC Government Information, and much more.

Here's a sample of FedWorld:

% telnet fedworld.gov
Trying 192.239.92.201
Connected to fedworld.gov.
Escape character is '^]'.

    ,-----, ,-----, ,-----, ,--,     ,--, ,-----, ,-----, ,--,   ,-----,
    | ,---' | ,---' | ,,  | |  |     |  | | ,-, | | ,--,| |  |   | ,,  |
    | '--,  | '--,  | ||  |  |  | _ |  |  | | | | | '--'| |  |   | ||  |
    | ,--'  | ,--'  | ||  |   |  ` `  |   | | | | | ,-,,' |  |   | ||  |
    | |     | '--,  | ''  |    | | | |    | '-' | | |  || |  '--,| ''  |
    '-'     '----'  '-----'    '-' '-'    '-----' '-'  '' '-----''-----'

 <  <  < < <<<<     FedWorld is a FREE service of
NTIS      >>>> > >  >

                          What is NTIS FedWorld?
Each year, the U.S. Federal Government spends more than $70 billion on
scientific and technical research. The National Technical Information
Service 
(NTIS) is tasked by Congress to help disseminate the vast amount of
scientific 
and technical information along with other, non-technical information. As a

central point of connectivity, NTIS FedWorld offers access to thousands of

files across a wide range of subject areas. You can find information from

Environmental Protection to Small Business.
FedWorld Features include:
Marketplace: document ordering with popular DOWNLOADABLE products
Library of Files: collection of files/doc's on Govt info/other data
D'bases/Subsystems: DABATASES/SUBSYSTEMS of Govt information provided by
other 
agencies or info sources (Davis-Bacon, Patent Licenses, CALS ...)
FedWorld Gateway: a gateway connection to other Govt systems/databases.
Special Features: FTP of Library of Files (IP address FTP.FEDWORLD.GOV)
Public mail conferences; White House press release/doc's; Federal Jobs.

                             F e d W o r l d (R)
                    National Technical Information Service

----------------------------------------------------------------------------


        [B]  Help/Information Center          [E]  Public Mail/Forums
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        [O]  Subsystems/Databases             [G]  Goodbye (Logoff)
        [Q]  NTIS Quick Bulletins

                         [N]   FedWorld Newsroom
                         [J]   Federal Job Openings


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            A - Patent Licensing System (Patent Licensing Abstracts)
            B - Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR)
            C - Computer Acquisition & Lifecycle Support (CALS)
            D - <reserved>
    NEW ->  E - Commerce Information Locator Service (CILS)
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etc...)
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(ITA)

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