Quality Information. Fast.
Professional search and information services
- Are you working on a business pitch?
- Wanting information on an individual, company or industry?
You can be sure of the best results with ProSearch.
ProSearch is the professional search services of Wellington City Libraries. We have the skills and specialist resources to track down reliable, up-to-date information quickly.
Save time, save hassle, save money
Whether your information search is for work, study, or personal interests, we're ready to help you. Some searches can take just 15 minutes. Even an advanced search can usually be completed within 24 hours.
With ProSearch you'll save time and avoid the hassle of having to hunt down information yourself.
In most instances, we can offer up to 1 hour free research (exclusive of direct costs) for non-urgent enquiries. For urgent enquiries, you'll be charged at an hourly rate, depending on the type of search and its urgency. There may also be direct costs, such as database charges or sourcing a document. You'll get a clear cost-estimate beforehand.
- Email Prosearch
- Call (04) 801 4059
- Visit us on Level 1 of the Central Library.
Get information on almost anything - here's a range of recent questions
ECONOMY - News reports of New Zealand exports to Hong Kong, 2003-2007.
INVENTIONS - Solar energy system patents.
AGRICULTURE - Dairy industry research and development into milk yields.
LITERATURE - North American poetry circa 1815.
PEOPLE - Michael Joseph Savage's parliamentary speeches.
SPORT AND FITNESS - lactate threshold testing.
COMPANIES - Australian medical industry activities in New Zealand since 2005.
OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS - World Bank's Asian Economic Outlook.
BUSINESS - Profiles of New Zealand electricity industry CEOs and Directors.
FAQ - Answers to frequently asked questions
Q. Why use ProSearch?
A. Because we're search specialists. We have the expertise and resources to track down reliable information extremely quickly. ProSearch will save your time, or the cost of you having an employee or colleague look for information.
Q. Where do you look?
A. We search numerous sources and not just the Internet. We have access to information from indexes, catalogues, newspapers, magazines, journals, specialist electronic databases and far more. We also search the collections of Wellington City Libraries and hundreds of other libraries around New Zealand and the world.
Q. What kind of information can I request?
A. It could be just about anything. Public information on a business leader, newspaper or magazine articles on a specific subject, news about new inventions, family history, annual reports - the list is virtually endless. In addition, our Interloans service allows us to search and request actual items for you, from the collections of other libraries around New Zealand, Australia and the UK.
Q. Who uses ProSearch?
A. 200 business and public organisations around Wellington use ProSearch on a regular basis. Other customers include students, people researching their family history, authors, and people seeking hard to find information.
Q. What do I end up with?
A. It depends on what you've requested. It could be simple facts, article summaries, magazine titles, full printed articles, photos, or actual items from the collections of other libraries.
- We can deliver same-day, next-day, or whatever your deadline is
- For urgent work, ProSearch is charged on a negotiated hourly rate, plus direct costs (all costs GST inclusive). You will be given an approximate idea of likely costs before a search is begun.
- Document supply charges start at $14.00. Costs vary depending on the level of urgency and how easy the document is to locate. For supply of international documents we pass on all costs to the customer.
What people say about ProSearch
A CEO of a credit rating agency often has ProSearch track down information to help in developing company credit ratings. "It's essential to us that all information is reliable as well as comprehensive," he says. "ProSearch have always demonstrated the ability to source accurate information which we'd often never been able to find ourselves."
A company director calls on ProSearch to source information to support his company's business proposals. "We're often working on very tight timeframes," he says. "ProSearch have always been able to quickly track down excellent industry profiles or reports. While they're searching, I can get on with other parts of the proposal."
A marketing manager of a pharmaceutical company regularly uses ProSearch to access copies of reports and other scientific and technical literature from libraries around the country. "They're always quick and efficient - and friendly with it," he says. "They'll come back and let us know if something is only available overseas, and they'll tell us what the cost will be. They're great to deal with."
A sample search
The key to any successful search is the skill of the person doing the searching. As the following search demonstrates, the ProSearch team know the most effective ways to track down accurate and relevant information for each particular search. While this sample search is for extensive information on a New Zealand business executive, your search request could be for almost anything.
Q. I've told you who I want information about - where do you start?
A. The first thing we will do is ask you questions about the person you want information on. That way we can clarify exactly who the person is and what their role is.
We'll then fill out a briefing sheet to make sure the parameters of the search are defined exactly.
Q. What's the first place you search?
A. As this search is for information on a New Zealand business leader, we will go to the libraries' copy of New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa (a hard copy reference volume) and get any information that's held there.
Q. Then what?
A. We do what a 'source selection' - a quick process of working out the best online database to look for information.
For this search, we can go to NewzText Magazines, which is a database holding over 25,000 articles from a range on New Zealand business magazines.
On NewzText, we can run a search and pull up all the resulting articles. Then we do a quick editing process, scanning the content of the articles and only saving the relevant ones.
Within New Zealand copyright legislation, we can give you access to these articles. If there are a large number, we can only forward you the headline and first couple of sentences of each article. That way you can choose the ones you want.
Q. Other places to look?
A. We do the same process across a range of specialist databases. For example, we will check the Ebsco and Proquest databases (which include the Dominion Post and the former Dominion/Evening Post). If the person or company you want information on is of political importance we can check the parliamentary database.
Q. What about time and costs?
A. As mentioned above, in most instances up to two free hours (exclusive of direct costs) can be undertaken. However costs are always totally transparent. We will tell you exactly how much it will cost you for the search you want, or to obtain the number of articles you've selected. It's always up to you.
