In addition, through the Center's affiliation with Harvard University, interns have access to an extraordinary array of resources, including distinguished art collections, advanced scientific equipment, and renowned libraries. Interns are encouraged to take advantage of the many curriculum courses, lectures, and seminars offered each year by the University. They also participate in a museum-wide intern seminar, together with interns from curatorial and administrative departments. Interns participate in the Museums' active exhibition and publication programs and may become involved in both technical and art historical research that is incorporated into exhibition catalogues and independent publications. Collaboration with curators and scholars provides opportunities to work on problems of condition, attribution, and authentication.
Interns spend up to one month on individual research studying original works of art.
They are introduced to the use of computers to record conservation treatments and enhance visual documentation for presentation purposes. The Straus Center for Conservation occupies more than 8,000 square feet in the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University. Facilities include three conservation laboratories, an analytical laboratory, a library, seminar room, and administrative offices. Harvard Universitiy's Department of the History of Art and Architecture and the Fine Arts Library, in the Fogg Art Museum, maintain the visual collections and some 250,000 volumes. The Fogg Art Museum, the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, and the Busch-Reisinger Museum, comprising the Harvard University Art Museums, together hold one of the most extensive university art collections in the world, with more than 150,000 works of art.