Approach or Avoidance? The Role of Nonverbal Communication in the Academic Library User's Decision To Initiate a Reference Encounter.

This naturalistic study examined the role of nonverbal communication in the academic library. The decision to approach or not approach a reference librarian was studied through the use of Mehrabian's immediacy metaphor, and it was hypothesized that the nonverbal behavior of the librarian is related to the user's decision. Contains 53 references. (Author/LRW)