The fonds consists of notebooks on marine observations, manuscripts, lecture notes, drawings and plates of sea life, and assorted pamphlets. Much of this material relates to Fraser's research on salmon. Also included are photographs taken during a collecting trip to the South Pacific. The fonds contains minutes of the British Columbia Industrial and Scientific Research Council (1944).

Fonds consists of textual records and published materials produced or acquired by Keith Ralston primarily through his historical research and other professional activities, along with a small selection of personal materials. It is arranged in the following ten series, which largely reflect how the records arrived in their original order: Department of History, Thesis, Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Cowichan Fishing Case, Public Record Office, Hudson’s Bay Company Research, Research, Associations, Personal, and Day Books.