The aim of this two-years master’s thesis is to examine the role of the body and the importance of nonverbal communication in the library workplace and to explore the possibility of becoming more nonverbally skilled. For this purpose a course was developed and presented to nine librarians in a public library in the vicinity of Stockholm in February, 2011. Qualitative interviews with the librarians were conducted after the course. Important theories for this work were Annemaree Lloyd’s thoughts on corporeality, Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical sociology and John Dewey’s learning by doing. Theories concerning what communication and nonverbal communication really are were essential, as was literature that shows that nonverbal communication is an important aspect in the profession of the librarian. Nonverbal signals of importance in the library setting were identified as being mainly eye contact, smiling, bodily movement towards the library user, tone of voice, proxemics (spatial distances), chronemics (time) and haptics (touch). The study also shows that the design of the library and librarians’ worktools interact with the possibility to communicate nonverbally. The course consisted of exercises normally used in the training of actors. This was based on the theory of Erving Goffman. The learning process was an example of situated learning in that it took place in the library. It also gave the participants an opportunity to share their knowledge and experience of nonverbal skills with each other. After the course the participants were given questionnaires with questions about their attitudes and experiences of nonverbal communication and their view on the course. After a week a follow-up questionnaire was distributed, in order to find out if the course had in any way had an impact on their work performance. The investigation shows that nonverbal skills play an important role in the work of the librarian. Training in these skills has long been neglected, since they have for the most part been taken for granted. This study shows, however, that this kind of training is important. The librarians who took part in the course testify that the exercises gave them valuable practice. Nonverbal skills can be taught and learned: and “it is time to bring the body back into the information field”.

Det finns en problematik i att avbilda ett sinnestillstånd och enskilda känslor med illustration utan att vara abstrakt eller specifik. För att informera om känslor till en målgrupp med en bild, bör studier om det specifika sinnestillståndets utföras.  I detta arbete studeras sinnestillståndet mental ohälsa och dess inflytande på individen som resulterar i ansiktsuttryck och kroppsspråk. Arbetet innefattar teorier om trovärdighet, uppmärksamhet och bildmanér. Studieobjektet är organisationen Läkare utan gränsers hemsida, koncentrerat på deras information om mental hälsa/ohälsa. Syftet med arbetet är att förtydliga informationen på Läkare utan gränsers hemsida med en illustration. För att skapa illustrationen har tidigare forskning studerats och en bildanalys och omvärldsanalys har sammanställts. Illustrationens manér har beslutats utifrån en enkätundersökning med fokus på den enskilda individen.  I arbetet är den enskilda individens upplevelse betydelsefull. Samhällets värderingar och förutfattade meningar har uteslutits. / There is a dilemma in creating an image that depicts a state of mind or an individual feeling whitout being abstract or specific. Informing a target audience about a feeling using an image requires studies on the specific mental state. This study focuses on the state of mind of the mental illness and its influence on the human body that results in facial expressions and body language. This report includes theories on credibility, attention and image manners. The object for this study is the website of the organization Mèdecins sans frontières, with focus on their information about mental health/illness. The aim of this study is to clarify the information about mental health/illness with an illustration on the organization´s website. In creating the illustration, studies on previous work has been conducted and an image analysis as well as an external analysis have been compiled. Illustration´s mannerisms have been decided on the basis of a survey, with focus on the individual. In this report the individual experience has been paramount. Society´s values and preconceptions has been excluded.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to explore similarities and differences between preschools in Sweden and Switzerland by focussing on how infants use nonverbal expressions in conflict situations. The target group of 1-2 year old children does not yet have an adequate verbal language and therefore has to communicate nonverbally. Watzlawick's communication theory states that a person cannot not communicate; in my study I have mainly employed the five axioms of his theory and observed the so called mirror neurons, which play a key role when humans interact. Conflict theories and conflict resolution strategies are also considered.   The methodological approach employed in this study combines a qualitative fieldwork with a quantitative systematization of data in order to construct a full representation of the differences and similarities that the observations have revealed.   The study shows that there are significant differences in the way children get into conflict situations and how they try to overcome them. In order to clarify why these differences appear, the discussion of the study includes the Swedish pre-school system with its relatively large nursery schools, and also the Swiss education system, where the reference to discipline is more pronounced than in the Swedish education system. / Sammanfattning Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur barn använder det icke-verbala språket vid konfliktsituationer samt att göra en jämförelse mellan förskolor i Sverige och Schweiz. Detta för att utforska skillnader och likheter mellan dessa två länder. I centrum för min observation står barn i åldern 1-2 år, då denna grupp ännu inte har utvecklat ett adekvat verbalt språk och därmed behöver kommunicera på ett icke-verbalt sätt. Watzlawicks kommunikationsteori fastslår att en människa inte inte kan kommunicera och denna grundsats har störst utrymme i min studie där fokus ligger på hans fem axiom inom kommunikation. Ytterligare tas hänsyn till spegelneuroner vilka spelar en nyckelroll när människor interagerar med varandra, likaså teorier inom konflikthantering.   Den metodologiska ansatsen är en kombination av en kvalitativ fältforskning och kvantitativ systematisering av data.     Studien visar att det föreligger signifikanta skillnader mellan hur barn hamnar i och hanterar konfliktsituationer i dessa två länderna. För att förklara dessa skillnader riktas blicken mot den svenska förskoleverksamheten med relativt stora barngrupper och mot den schweiziska pedagogiken som kan konstateras vara hårdare när det gäller disciplin.