Contents: REDISCOVERING THE PAST British origins of Mechanics' Institutes / Dr Alex Tyrell p5. A pioneering mechanics' institute: foundation of the Edinburgh School of Arts / Patrick N. O'Farrell p11. Australian mechanics' institutes / Philip Candy p21.
'THOSE FOUNTAINS OF KNOWLEDGE' - MI'S AND EDUCATION Useful knowledge and lifelong learning / Stuart Dawson p25. The Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts and the formal establishment of technical education in NSW / Roger Morris p35. Mechanics' Institutes and Schools of Mines in Australia / Adrian Hass p41.
'MENTAL AND MORAL IMPROVEMENT AND RATIONAL RECREATION' Dancing by moonlight and all sorts of fun: an illustrated celebration of South Australia's Institutes / Michael Talbot p55. By the people for the people: the role of mechanics' institutes in local civics from colonialism to federation / Brian Galligan and Winsome Roberts p67. The management of libraries in Ballarat between 1851-1900 / Peter Mansfield p79.
'MORE THAN A PLACE OF AMUSEMENT' - SOME LOCAL INSTITUTES CONSIDERED Hidden treasure: the library in the Briagolong Mechanics' Institute / Linda Barraclough p89. Kyneton Mechanics' Institute, the A.N.A. and federation p93. Mechanics' institutes in South Gippsland / Pat Sanders and Len Peeler p99. The rise and demise of the Mechanics' Institutes in Port Melbourne, South Melbourne and St Kilda / Kay Rowan p105.
OUR FUTURE Victoria's mechanics' institutes Community Partnerships Program / Graham Dudley p113. North American mechanics' institutes / Cathy Milward-Bason p117.