Later, students are required to complete a research project using specimens in the collections as well as the paleontological literature. Students report the results of their work orally in class and also write a research paper in the format of a journal article. Requests for loans are usually granted. A measure of the importance of a museum's collections is how often specimens are requested for loan. Specimens loaned to other institutions may be used for exhibit, but are more commonly used for research.
Museums usually loan specimens for a period of up to one year and most loans are returned promptly.
However, once specimens leave the premises, the lending institution has limited power to enforce the loan deadline and specimens can be on loan for a dozen years or more. Using the facilities of The Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology, students are instructed in various museum activities, from how to collect fossils so they retain their maximum scientific value, to how the permanent collections are organized so that fossils can be retrieved for use in education, research, exhibit, and loan. Students who excel in the Museum Studies course are well prepared to volunteer or perhaps even seek employment at other types of natural history museums. But more importantly, students leave the course with a deeper understanding of the mission of the Alf Museum and how the museum serves both the general public and the scientific community.