The fonds consists of records chronicling various facets of Howard's long career in mining-related activities. It includes material from his student days, his years at Eldorado Gold Mines, and his years as a professor at the University of British Columbia. The fonds includes photographs reflecting the development of mining equipment and technology. In particular, the numerous photographs from Howard's Eldorado days (1942-1946) depict not only mining operations but also capture aspects of social life in Port Radium, a remote community near the Arctic Circle.

Fonds consists of a “transit book” – a bound notebook used by Hal Norman for notes and measurements taken during his Surveying course in 1923 – and three maps of UBC’s Fairview and Point Grey campuses, hand-drawn in 1923 and plotted in 1976.