The records document Chambers' activities in three research projects that all attempt to reconcile the disputes between preservation and development interests in resource management. The first project is documented extensively. The last two projects offer only a glimpse into the response of the Nazko-Kluskus First Nations to the issues raised in the Purcell study. These papers offer valuable evidence of the continuing conflict surrounding resource management and First Nations land rights in B.C. and Chambers's role in attempting to find a resolution. There are three series of records that correspond to these three projects. Because the original order has been lost, it has been reconstructed with reference to the functions and activities of each project. Files within each series have been arranged in chronological order. Undated documents have been placed at the back of each file.

Collection consists of scrapbooks, newspaper and magazine clippings, pamphlets, reports, correspondence, drawings, booklets, and maps related to Alan F. Brook's interest in hydroelectric engineering projects in the Pacific Northwest of British Columbia and the United States. The scrapbooks compile newspaper and magazine clippings that follow the development of the Columbia River Treaty between Canada and the United States from the mid 1950s-1970s, including information on the resulting Mica, Duncan, Keenleyside (formerly High Arrow), and Libby Dams. The majority of the material in the scrapbooks were taken from articles in The Province (formerly the Vancouver Province) and the Trail Daily Times. The collection also includes ephemera related to the Columbia Basin Project in Washington State.

The fonds consists primarily of Alan Haig-Brown's written and photographic works on the marine industry in Canada and internationally. Photographs document ships and boats, maritime scenes and personalities in fishing and ship-building. The geographical scope of the photographs includes British Columbia, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii; Southern Coastal US (Texas and Louisiana); Thailand, China, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines; Netherlands; Brazil.

Textual records include annotated drafts for several of Haig-Brown's books, hand-written notes, newspaper clippings, design schematics and correspondence.

The fonds also contains audio recordings of interviews and oral histories with figures in the maritime trades.

The fonds consists of records related to British Columbia politician and judge Alexander Malcolm Manson's life. The records in this fonds encompass all aspects of Manson's life and were produced both through his career and in his personal life. Notably, the fonds contains extensive records from Manson's political career, his judicial career, and the investments and trusts he managed. Many areas of Manson's life overlapped considerably, including overlapping careers, and records related to one area of his life may be found among records related to another area.

The contents of this fonds consist predominantly of correspondence, including carbon copies of correspondence sent by Manson. This correspondence pertains both to Manson's career as well as to various parts of his personal life and has been arranged according to the file names used by Manson wherever possible; correspondence that has not otherwise been sorted by Manson has been sorted as "general correspondence," a designation which also includes personal correspondence. Other types of records in this fonds include meeting minutes, court proceedings, financial statements, newspaper clippings, governmental reports, shareholder reports, certificates, invitations and event programmes, and photographs.

The fonds has been arranged into eight series: legal career; political career; judicial career; finances; personal life; Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; general correspondence; and photographs, scrapbooks, and ephemera.

The collection consists of documents from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries related to mining in the area around Princeton, British Columbia. Many of the documents pertain to Alfred St. George Hamersley’s involvement with mining in this region, mostly notably with the Vermilion Forks Mining and Development Company. Records also relate to W.J. Waterman and Ernest Waterman’s activities in the mining industry of this region, particularly Ernest Waterman’s role as manager of the Vermillion Forks Mining and Development Company. Business of the Anglo-American Gold and Platinum Hydraulic Mining Company Limited Liability, the Princeton Water Power Company, and the London and Vancouver Finance and Development Company Limited is also documented.
Records are arranged into files that correspond to items in the collection. Document types include correspondence, sales of shares, land, and mineral rights, business and mining licenses, lease agreements, land registries, and Government of British Columbia receipts. A map of the region is also included.

Fonds consists of course materials, correspondence, subject files, reports, clippings, printed material, and index cards, relating to Hutchinson's work with the UBC Department of Biology and Botany. The fonds reflects his research interests, which included studies of conifers, forest ecology and tree genetics, particularly of the Douglas fir; to a limited extent, his personal life is also documented. The fonds also includes approximately 3,600 photographic negatives and prints (most black and white, some in colour), 1,200 lantern slides, and some transparencies. The photographs are mainly microscopic images of plants and trees in British Columbia, Mexico, Cuba, Florida and South Africa in the early part of the twentieth century. There is also a photograph album accompanying Hutchinson's report Grazing Lands in British Columbia. Finally, there are maps, charts, and diagrams, which are listed and stored separately.