Staff spotlight – Semyon Khokhlov

Research and Instruction Librarian

Semyon is a Research and Instruction Librarian specializing in literature and languages, spanning the Comparative Literature, English, French, German, Russian, and Spanish departments. Research and instruction are central components of his work: he advises students and faculty to guide them to relevant resources, including learning what scholars have written about a text, identifying relevant scholarly conversations, finding useful context to expand research where scholarship may be limited, and identifying theoretical frameworks. To facilitate the discovery of scholarly sources, Semyon is working on a digital bibliography project called Bibliohub. Collection management, another aspect of Semyon’s work, is a continual process for librarians, involving actively searching for resources in his disciplines that will benefit the scholarly community.

 For this edition of The Staff Spotlight, Semyon answers questions about the importance of library instruction, its impact on information literacy, and scholarship.

• How can receiving research instruction improve scholarship?

Receiving research instruction promotes information literacy skills in students, which is essential for students conducting research. “Research is the foundation of scholarship,” says Semyon. Students that come to Haverford have diverse backgrounds, and it shouldn’t be assumed that they know how the research process works or that they will intuitively understand how to navigate resources. Research librarians like Semyon can provide this instruction, giving all students at Haverford a strong foundation to support their personal scholarship.

• What should students and faculty know about research instruction?

Semyon states that after attending an instructional session or one-on-one consultation, students feel “empowered to do research. They feel more confident, more ready to take on what can be a challenging task. Library instruction and consultations provide a pathway to make research more accessible and less intimidating.” He is available to consult with students in one-on-one sessions, can provide students with guidance on how to conduct a research project and where to source materials, and can consult on citations. Semyon can also provide in-class instruction, partnering with professors to provide students with guidance on information literacy. 

• How do you choose materials for the Haverford collection?

Semyon supports collection development through awareness of research projects and interests in the Haverford community: “What are people here working on, faculty and students? What are their interests? What’s happening in the classroom, and people’s different research agendas? I keep this in mind as I’m viewing catalogs and publishers.” Through close relationships and collaboration with faculty members, he chooses materials that will support the curriculum and shine light on conversations surrounding current events. 

• How can tech like Bibliohub improve scholarship?

Bibliohub, which is currently in progress, is focused on recording scholarly conversations that occur on social media with the purpose of preserving that information, and crediting scholars for their ideas and contributions. According to Semyon, “One of the issues we have at the intersection of tech and scholarship is what do we do with the information we produce? The more tools that we have to do something meaningful with the information we create the better. We can really seize the possibilities of technologies to assist with the research endeavor. Something that we emphasize as research and instruction librarians is that you have to give credit where credit is due. Research is a conversation and you build on the work that others have done.” 

• What are you writing about?

Semyon edits a literary magazine called LEAN that is devoted to non-protagonist centered fiction. “It is writing that formally diminishes the presence of a protagonist. We’re in a very protagonist centered moment whether in literature or any other cultural sphere, and LEAN provides an alternative. I’m very interested in creating a space for this kind of writing, and getting people to do it and think about it.” Semyon has also been writing essays on the topic of non-protagonist fiction, one of which will be published later this year.

• What are you reading?

Semyon just finished reading McTeague by Frank Norris. “He’s called the American Zola. It’s like the first major American novel set in California.” 

Interested? You can request McTeague on Tripod!