> How do I hire a local researcher? Can I hire them on-line by using
> credit card? How much would they charge? (I plan to find out my friend,
> Peggy in USA; I'm in Taiwan now)
I suggest that you _first_ contact the university's Dept. of Civil
and Environmental Engineering first, and see if they won't simply
mail or e-mail you the list for free or near free.
If that fails, then look up the American Institute of Information
Professionals at http://www.aiip.org.
One person who is a very good researcher is Sue Rugge, who lives in
Oakland. She's written a couple of books on information research and
brokering, and can find just about anything. She is however fairly
expensive. She is listed on the AIIP pages, as are dozens of other
researchers who work in the Bay Area.
I would expect that if you hire a researcher, you could probably pay
by check, money order, or bank/wire transfer. Very few will take
credit cards, partly because it's much too easy to renege on payment.
Most people will probably only take payment in US dollars, and
checks may be held for two weeks or more until they have cleared--
depending on which bank they are drawn on.
