The program is held on the campus of The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota. St. Scholastica has considerable experience with similar programs having offered a series of summer institutes on aging since 1989, first with support from the National Science Foundation and now with support from the National Institute on Aging. The St. Scholastica campus offers an ideal setting for the NIA program. The College library has an excellent collection of journals, books, monographs, reports, videotapes, and other materials related to aging. The library is connected to the PALS system which permits access to a data base of over 2,000,000 monographs and 350,000 government documents held by over 75 public and private universities, government departments, and state agencies including the Minnesota Department of Health and the State Historical Society.
Internet connections provide links to other libraries as well.
In addition, the library participates in Minitex, a state-wide network which makes it possible for participants to utilize the books and journals available in other libraries, including those at the University of Minnesota. Participants in past institutes have found these arrangements extremely helpful in conducting literature reviews in specialized areas. Excellent classroom facilities, audiovisual equipment, and computer laboratories have been reserved for the institute. The computer laboratories provide convenient networked access to all major research software that participants would need. Internet access is available for use by students and visiting professors.