  We re-analyze the HST high resolution spectroscopic data of the intrinsic
absorber in NGC 5548 and find that the C IV absorption column density is at
least four times larger than previously determined. This increase arises from
accounting for the kinematical nature of the absorber and from our conclusion
that the outflow does not cover the narrow emission line region in this object.
The improved column density determination begins to bridge the gap between the
high column densities measured in the X-ray and the low ones previously
inferred from the UV lines. Combined with our findings for outflows in high
luminosity quasars these results suggest that traditional techniques for
measuring column densities: equivalent width, curve-of-growth and Gaussian
modeling, are of limited value when applied to absorption associated with AGN
outflows.
