The rise of New Literacy Studies and the shift from studying reading and writing as a technical process to examining situated literacies--what people do with literacy in particular social situations--has focused attention toward understanding the connections between reading and writing practices and the broader social goals and cultural practices these literacy practices help to shape. This collection brings together situated research studies of literacy across a range of specific contexts, covering everyday, educational, and workplace domains. Its contribution is to provide, through an empirical framework, a larger cumulative understanding of literacy across diverse contexts.