While poking around the web the other day, I happened upon a book ("Telecommunications Technology Handbook", published in 2003) that had material which looked a lot like a paper I had written in 2001. Upon further investigation, I found it was my paper. Not only that, but the author gave me credit for the material.
Problem is, I didn't know anything about it.
Technically, the company I worked for back then owned the paper since I was working for them when I wrote it - so I hope the author got permission from the company before including it in the book. But even if true, it would have been nice to contact me, as the author, before publishing it. If nothing else, I could have provided updates and corrections to the paper. A simple search on my name would have turned up my contact information.
I contacted the publisher and they sent me a copy of the book.
I actually don't mind that the paper was used - in fact, I'm flattered it was chosen for publication. But I would have appreciated a note.
It's a dense technical publication that only a geek could love, but you can see it on Google books - my work starts at page 175 (Chapter 6). Go to the table of contents and click on the page number to get there quickly. If you're having trouble getting to sleep, I guarantee reading this will cure you.
Mike