Inquiry Answer Service

When you subscribe to PAS, our team of researchers at the Inquiry Answer Service will go to work for you, providing customized research on demand. The answers you need when you need them. With one phone call or e-mail, PAS subscribers gain access to more than six decades of plans, ordinances, and reports — including the absolute latest — plus journals, books, and the accumulated wisdom of APA's research staff. We have one of the most comprehensive collections of planning information anywhere, and, more important, we have a staff who will comb through it for you, to find precisely what you need to make the right recommendations for your community.

How does the Inquiry Answer Service work? Follow along with our five-step process to learn how we deliver custom research to your desk in 7 days or less.

Step 1: Place Your Inquiry

PAS Subscribers

Contact your PAS Researcher with your request by phone or e-mail. Or better yet, login into PAS Subscribers Only to access the Inquiry Answer Service through the online inquiry request form.

Place an Inquiry

Non-Subscribers

The Planning Advisory Service recognizes that for some individuals and organizations, a year-long subscription to the service may not be necessary. To better accommodate our non-subscribing customers, we created the non-subscriber inquiry request.

Research Findings
To answer your request, PAS Researchers will use the same comprehensive research process that our subscribers enjoy. The materials prepared will be yours to keep (non-subscribers do not receive loan documents). Non-subscriber inquiry requests are generally completed within 5-7 business days. A rush service (3-5 business days) is available for an additional fee.

The Inquiry Response
PAS Researchers respond to most inquiries with an e-mail memo summarizing research findings along with annotated links to online resources. When necessary, many materials can be sent by fax or first-class mail. For expedited shipping service, please provide us with a Federal Express or UPS account number.

Payment
For PAS non-subscribers, we offer a flat research fee of $150. This fee is based on the time it takes our staff to research and prepare materials for an inquiry. Rush service requires an additional $50 fee.

Payment for service is tendered at the time of the request. We do not invoice. If you purchase a subscription to PAS within 60 days of placing your first non-subscriber inquiry, your rate is discounted by the cost of your original request.

Place Your Request
If your organization does not currently subscribe to PAS but would like to place a research inquiry, please use our Non-subscriber Inquiry Request Form (pdf). Please call 312-431-9100 to speak to a PAS Researcher if you have additional questions.

A typical research request will take 5-7 business days to complete, but the Inquiry Answer Service will do its best to accommodate your deadlines. Have a meeting tomorrow night? Request rush service.

Your PAS researcher will contact you within 1 business day to confirm your request and further define your particular research needs.

Step 2: Track Your Inquiry

When you place an inquiry, your PAS researcher enters that request into a specialized database called Helicon. The Inquiry Answer Service uses Helicon to manage subscriber contact information, assign inquiries to individual researchers, look up past inquiries similar to yours, and manage loan document circulation.

Most importantly, Helicon is used to track your request from the time you make to the request to the day we send out the custom response. Want to know the status of your request? Contact the PAS team and we'll check Helicon for you.

Step 3: The Daily Inquiry Meeting and Report

The PAS team meets each day to discuss newly received inquiries. Each request is discussed and assigned to a PAS researcher. Following the meeting, the Daily Inquiry Report is generated from Helicon.  The report, providing details for each inquiry, is sent out to APA Research, Education and Policy staff who then provide inquiry-specific suggestions to the PAS team.

Step 4: Creating Your Customized Response

When you place a request, your PAS researcher utilizes a variety of resources to answer the inquiry, including:

• PAS Files. We have plans, regulations, articles, municipal documents, and reports on over 500 subject areas.  The PAS files contain the best practices, are well organized and updated regularly.
• APA Library. The APA library offers a unique collection of more than 4,000 volumes on planning and allied fields. The library also contains 200 journal and newsletter subscriptions.
• APA Research Staff. Our 14-person research staff are leaders in the planning field and committed to innovative practice.
• APA Publications. Your organization may not have a subscription to all of the APA publications, but we do. Articles from Zoning Practice, Planning, Journal of the American Planning Association, Planning & Environmental Law, PAS Memo, and The Commissioner are at your fingertips through PAS.
• Internet. Don't spend your time looking for that needle in the haystack document. PAS researchers know where to find the highest quality information available online. We make sure the information is current, accurate, and useful before passing it along to you.
• PAS Subscribers. Need to talk to a colleague tackling the same issue? PAS can put you in touch with other subscribers who have dealt with a similar situation.

Every response from the Inquiry Answer Service is customized to the particular request. The response to your request might contain any combination of the above-listed resources.

Step 5: Custom Research Delivered to You

PAS Researchers respond to most inquiries with an e-mail memo summarizing research findings along with annotated links to online resources. When necessary, many materials can be sent by fax or first class mail.

Once your response arrives and you have reviewed the resources, you may have additional questions about your inquiry. Feel free to contact the Inquiry Answer Service. Your PAS researcher is happy to answer your questions.

Ready to place a request?

Learn how to ask good questions first or explore a sample question and answer.