Beyond the Book: MIT Media Lab and MIT Press on the 'Frankenbook' Project

"Amid 200th-anniversary observances of the publication of Mary Shelley’s 1818 Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, one project—launched in January by Arizona State University—is the Frankenbook project. It recognizes Shelley’s work as “a modern myth; a 200 year-old science-fiction story that explores themes of human creativity, societal responsibility and scientific ethics,” and is part of a wider Frankenstein Bicentennial Project that includes several components. Frankenbook is described as “a collective reading and collaborative annotation experience of the original 1818 text of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. … It gives readers the opportunity to trace the scientific, technological, political, and ethical dimensions of the novel, and to learn more about its historical context and enduring legacy.” And in the edition of Copyright Clearance Center’s Beyond the Book podcast with Christopher Kenneally that goes live on Monday (August 13), you can hear a discussion of the PubPub platform that hosts Frankenbook. PubPub is a collaborative project of MIT Press and MIT Media Lab, and the work is housed under the banner Knowledge Futures Group. The conversation Kenneally brings together for Beyond the Book features PubPub project lead Travis Rich, a graduate of MIT Media Lab, and Terry Ehling, strategic initiatives director with MIT Press...."