OpenURL and Z39.50 are highlighted in a discussion of federated search. An advanced federated search system can be fine-tuned to meet the specific requirements of an organization, and could also offer good return on investment (ROI) through better efficiency for searching and better quality of information delivered. Because librarians have to compete with information provided via the Web, they may want to 'build the solid relations needed to generate the budget dollars needed to maintain content collections.' Even the most advanced and expensive federated search project will require the ability to set the correct expectations among vested stakeholders. Advice is provided on how to measure such expectations and how to communicate common-sense goals and usage policies with system builders, content providers, and users. Topics covered include what federated cannot do, progress on standards, OpenURL standard, authentication standards, differences in approach between vendors, what readers can do, and working with vendors. One company working on solving such issues is MuseGlobal, which is porting user-friendly interfaces to robust search and organization abilities. When single search interfaces are widely used, return of a set number of articles per database will be insufficient, as will sorting only by titles and dates. Federated solution providers therefore have to offer more advanced tools that optimize ease of user input and the robust ness of results returned.