Part I: The anthropology of writing: writing as social and cultural practice; 1. What is the 'anthropology of writing'? David Barton and Uta Papen; 2. Acts of writing: when writing is doing, Beatrice Fraenke; Part II: Writing in the workplace -- institutional demands; 3. Updating a biomedical database, David Pontille; 4. Balancing demands from system and situation: literacy practices in a childcare workplace, Karin Tusting; 5. Tracing cows: practical and administrative logics in tension, Nathalie Joly1 Part III: Writing by individuals and institutions; 6. Vernacular spaces on the web, David Barton; 7. Keeping a personal note-book in rural Mali: Practice, genre and the materiality of writing, Aissatou Mbodj-Pouye (EHESS, France); 8. Writing and being written about: patients as writers and recipients of health texts, Uta Papen; Part IV: Historical perspectives; 9. Using Edwardian postcards to study ordinary writing, Julia Gillen and Nigel Hall; 10. Legal and illegal forms of public writing in 17th century France, Anne Beroujon; 11. Writing illness: the diary of a doctor treating morphine addict in late nineteenth century France, Philippe Artieres; Afterword: Current themes in the anthropology of writing, Brian Street; Bibliography; Index.