Fonds consists of personal and professional materials of Ward’s related to his career. The fonds is divided into four series: Project series (1980-2020); Publications and Conferences (1966-2009); Teaching and Research Materials (1992-2003), and Correspondence series (1978-2001).

The fonds consists of correspondence, drafts, essays, lecture notes, course outlines, clippings and research materials created and collected by Ormsby in her diverse roles as student, professor, researcher and author. Also included are records generated between 1957 and 1967 by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.

The fonds consists of minutes from the Departments of Asian Studies (1968-1992) and History (1964-1992) as well as committee material and other records generated by these two units (1962-1992). In addition, Harnetty has provided several detailed lists which serve as abstracts for much of the material. The fonds also includes copies of speeches by Harnetty between 1961 and 1966, course material from 1985 to 1992, and other ephemera.