1. BEGIN ENG, the OneSearch category that contains databases with technical engineering information.

?b eng

SYSTEM:OS  - DIALOG OneSearch
  File   2:INSPEC 1898-2008/Apr W3
         (c) 2008 Institution of Electrical Engineers
  File   6:NTIS 1964-2008/Jun W1
         (c) 2008 NTIS, Intl Cpyrght All Rights Res
  File   8:Ei Compendex(R) 1884-2008/May W2
         (c) 2008 Elsevier Eng.  Info. Inc.
  File  14:Mechanical and Transport Engineer Abstract 1966-2008
         (c) 2008 CSA.
  . . . .
  File 240:PAPERCHEM 1967-2008/May W2
         (c) 2008 Elsevier Eng. Info. Inc.
  File 248:PIRA 1975-2008/Aug W4
         (c) 2008 Pira International
  File 293:Engineered Materials Abstracts 1966-2008/May
         (c) 2008 CSA.

2. SELECT keywords for the topic. Note the number of different ways we will search petrinet.

Avoid truncation on very short (i.e., three-letter) words like "net."

Notice the use of parentheses for synonyms for "net" and "petrinet."

3. Because we are going to analyze the hits, narrow the retrieval under the assumption that the number of authors involved in the last couple of years is of more importance than the last thirty or so years.

      Set  Items  Description
      ---  -----  -----------
?s  simulation and (petri(w)(net or nets or network?) or petrinet?)
         4280926  SIMULATION
           60562  PETRI
          516310  NET
          234269  NETS
         3416568  NETWORK?
           53345  PETRI(W)((NET OR NETS) OR NETWORK?)
             529  PETRINET?
      S1   10955  SIMULATION AND (PETRI(W)(NET OR NETS OR NETWORK?)
                  OR PETRINET?)

?s  s1/2007:2008
           10955  S1
         5133029  PY=2007 : PY=2008
      S2     777  S1/2007:2008

4. Use RANK with the PERCENT added to list the largest contributors first, along with the percent of articles written.

Often, you will select the author with the most "hits." In this example we are choosing a particular author.

Note: Using the VIEW command, you can select a Rank No., format, and record to view an entry inside the RANK menu (e.g., view 5/9/1).

Here, the EXIT command releases you back into command Dialog only after you agree (Y) that you have saved everything of interest.

?rank au percent
Started processing RANK
Processing    100 of    777 records
. . . .
Processing    700 of    777 records
Completed Ranking 777 records

DIALOG RANK Results
--------------------
RANK: S2/1-777   Field: AU=  File(s): 2,6,8,14,25,31,32,33,34,35,...
(Rank fields found in 775 records -- 1465 unique terms) Page 1 of 184

RANK No.  Items  %Ranked  Term
--------  -----  -------  ----
    1       53     06.8%  REPRINT)
    2       11     01.4%  BILLINGTON, JONATHAN
    3       11     01.4%  TAO, ZE
    4       11     01.4%  YAO, SHUZHEN
    5        8     01.0%  BADOUEL, ERIC
    6        8     01.0%  CHEN, SHAN-BEN
    7        8     01.0%  CHENOU, JULES
    8        8     01.0%  GUILLOU, GOULVEN
P =  next page      Pn = Jump to page n
P- = previous page  M =  More Options     Exit = Leave RANK

To view records from RANK, enter VIEW followed by RANK number,
format, and item(s) to display, e.g., VIEW 2/9/ALL.
Enter desired option(s) or enter RANK number(s) to save terms.
?.exit

RANK results will be erased; have you saved all the terms of 
interest? (YES/NO)
?y
Exiting...  (no terms were saved)

5. BEGIN File 34, SciSearch: a Cited Reference Database.

6. EXPAND the author name (AU=) to see one of the author's in the RANKed list above.

7. SELECT the appropriate E number (E2). Notice that initials rather than first names are used in this database and no punctuation.

?b 34

File  34:SciSearch(R) Cited Ref Sci 1990-2008/May W4
       (c) 2008 The Thomson Corp

      Set  Items  Description
      ---  -----  -----------
?e au=BADOUEL ERIC

Ref   Items  Index-term
E1        1  AU=BADOUEL D
E2       14  AU=BADOUEL E
E3        0 *AU=BADOUEL ERIC
E4        1  AU=BADOUI R
E5        3  AU=BADOUM G
E6        1  AU=BADOUNI SR
. . . .
Enter P or PAGE for more

?s e2
       S1      14  AU='BADOUEL E'

8. TYPE out at least one record using Format 2 to find the author's latest address.

Note that the address appears for the first author.

?t s1/2/1

1/2/1
DIALOG(R)File 34: SciSearch(R) Cited Ref Sci
(c) 2008 The Thomson Corp. All rights reserved.

17091129   Genuine Article#: 228HR   Number of References: 9
Concurrent secrets

Author: Badouel E; Bednarczyk M; Borzyszkowski A; Caillaud B; Darondeau P (REPRINT)
Corporate Source: IRISA,Campus Beaulieu/F-35042 Rennes//France/ (REPRINT); IRISA,F-35042 Rennes//France/; IPIPAN,PL-81825 Sopot//Poland/; Univ Gdansk,Inst Math,PL-80952 Gdansk//Poland/
Journal: DISCRETE EVENT DYNAMIC SYSTEMS-THEORY AND APPLICATIONS , 2007 , V 17 , N4 ( DEC ) , P 425-446
ISSN: 0924-6703   Publication date: 20071200
Publisher: SPRINGER , VAN GODEWIJCKSTRAAT 30, 3311 GZ DORDRECHT, NETHERLANDS
Language: English   Document Type: ARTICLE   ( ABSTRACT AVAILABLE )
Geographic Location: France; Poland
Journal Subject Category: AUTOMATION & CONTROL SYSTEMS; OPERATIONS RESEARCH & MANAGEMENT SCIENCE; MATHEMATICS, APPLIED
Descriptors--Author Keywords: supervisory control ; computer security ; opacity ; concurrency ; automata