If your data is on the Internet, you have two and a half strategies…
Old-Fashioned and Reliable
1. Bring up the data in your browser.
2. Save the window as text (or copy it, paste it into a word processor, and save it as text).
3. Import the data as a text file.
Plan B
1. Choose Import From URL… from the File menu.
2. Type (or paste) the URL into the box and press OK.
New-Fangled and Slick
1. Bring up the data in your browser.
2. Drag the URL icon from your browser into the collection in your Fathom document.
What if the format is wrong?
Fathom only understands a few of the common data formats used on the Internet. Strange data formats are one of the problems in getting data from the web.
As Fathom improves, it will do better and better. But no matter what happens, you will occasionally need help. There are two indispensable tools: your word processor and a capable spreadsheet such as Microsoft Excel.
One approach is to make a text file, and then try to open it from Excel (be sure Excel's Open dialog shows all files). Excel has a sophisticated data-finding wizard that helps you get the right data into the right columns. See its documentation--or just jump in and try it.
Sometimes, the format needs a good word processor to fix it up. You can use global search and replace to get rid of multiple spaces and turn them into tabs and remove those annoying blank lines.
More and more, Fathom will handle these, but it's nice to have a diverse set of tools at your disposal.