Document.load()?

Hi,
I've been reading at various places about how to load an xml file using DOM 
Document.load() and getting the result by handling the onload event. Or 
setting async to false to have load return synchronously. Now I've been 
searching the web for hours for a reference describing these things. 
Couldn't find them in the W3 DOM spec, nor in the gecko DOM reference.
This particular excerpt from "JavaScript: the definitive guide, 4th ed" 
refers to the technique as being a "standard DOM level 2":
http://www.webreference.com/programming/javascript/definitive/chap17/11.html

but nowhere in the DOM level 2 specification could I find them. And none of 
the interfaces there are describing *events* like onload.
Would anyone be so kind as to shed some light on this?
Thank you in advance!