Review Update: JoVE
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Heidi Zuniga, MA, MSLS 
Electronic Resources Management and Science Librarian 
Colorado State University 

This is an update of a review I wrote that was published in the December 2018 issue of Doody’s Collection Development Monthly. You can find the original review here.  

Content 

JoVE produces and publishes video resources, such as laboratory experiments, protocols, and instructional videos, that aim to help increase research and educational productivity and engagement in science, medicine, and engineering. Although it was originally known as Journal of Visualized Experiments, the company now goes simply by JoVE to signify the broader scope of their resources. It is targeted toward researchers, educators, and students. Since 2017, JoVE has added several resources and enhancements, including JoVE Core, JoVE Lab Manual, Jove Encyclopedia of Experiments, and an open access COVID-19 resource center. 

Features & Functionality 

Because JoVE’s products have expanded, it may be helpful to break the major resources down into categories: 

JoVE Research Library 

JoVE Research is a library of videos showing scientific research in multiple disciplines. It includes demonstrations, techniques, and protocols. JoVE Research has several components: 

  • JoVE Journal: A peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary online journal and video collection of scientific experiments and laboratory methods. It contains many focus areas, such as biology, engineering, and genetics. It is indexed in Web of Science and PubMed (Single ISSN, DOIs for each article). 
  • JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments: An encyclopedia of videos showing advanced research experiments. It is targeted toward scientists in academia as well as biotech. The encyclopedia includes animations and video demonstrations of experiments (Single ISSN). 
  • Methods Collections: Methods Collections (such as Methods in neuronal cell culture) are focused on the transfer of techniques within research communities. The collections support increasing standardization and collaboration. Researchers can propose a new collection, publish within a collection, or serve as a guest editor. 

JoVE Education Library 

JoVE Education is a library of videos showing scientific concepts and lab techniques. Its audience includes educators and students. JoVE Education is intended to help improve learning outcomes and increase student engagement. Like JoVE Research, it has several components. 

  • JoVE Core: Video textbooks focused on undergraduate course concepts. (One ISSN per textbook). 
  • JoVE Science Education: Video library of scientific experiment demonstrations focused on teaching theories behind scientific experiments. Collections include neuroscience, cell biology, developmental biology, genetics, immunology, and microbiology. (Different ISSNs for each collection). 
  • JoVE Lab Manual: Videos intended for undergraduate or introductory lab courses. Currently, Biology and Chemistry are the two available collections. (Different ISSNs for each collection). 
  • High Schools: Targeted toward high school students and instructors. It features videos selected for the high school learner and includes information about textbook mapping, state correlations, and a downloadable syllabus. 

Additional Resources: 

  • Faculty Resource Center: Resources intended to help faculty find a variety of ways to incorporate videos into their courses. This includes integrating videos into learning management systems, creating playlists, and mapping videos to courses, teaching labs, specific textbooks. Educators can request help mapping JoVE videos to their course syllabi and can also create labels which enable them to add custom text and links to videos. Videos in playlists can be cloned, shared, and saved. Some textbooks are already mapped to JoVe videos, including Campbell Biology, OpenStax Chemistry, and OpenStax Biology, among others. JoVE also offers frequent training webinars. 
  • COVID-19 Resource Center: JoVE’s open access COVID-19 Resource Center includes information about Corona-specific protocols, lab preparation, current research, diagnosis methods, and more. 

Although Boolean search is unavailable at this writing, JoVE reports they are working to enhance their search tool that will include an advanced search that is similar to Boolean searching. Users can currently utilize filters to improve search results. JoVE is also trialing interactive videos, which are available for Science Education: General and Organic Chemistry. Users see a series of questions and can pause the video to answer. It is intended to increase user engagement. 

Finally, JoVE redesigned its website in July 2020. A full Chinese website has launched, which will be followed by German, Spanish, Turkish, Korean, and other sites.  

Business Model 

JoVE continues to offer JoVE Unlimited, which is a license for all content. Institutions can also license JoVE Research or JoVE Science Education as separate subscriptions, or subject-specific collections such as JoVE Biological Sciences. JoVE will provide quotes upon request. JoVE’s Librarian Resource Center has information about subscription options, access, etc. 

Breakthrough 

JoVE has expanded its content to include new resources and new audiences. Many instructors who have had to transition to a remote environment as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic may have found JoVE to be a particularly useful resource. The Faculty Resource Center makes it easier for instructors to integrate JoVE’s content into their courses. It remains a recommended resource because of its high-quality videos and many useful supporting tools and features. JoVE is a good resource for training, education, and increasing reproducibility.  

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