This fonds documents the administration, research activities, and development of the McGill Sub-Arctic Research Laboratory and its successor, the McGill Sub-Arctic Research Station. Records include administrative and operational files, research project documentation, scientific data, publications, correspondence, and related papers generated through the station's activities.

The fonds is particularly significant for documenting the establishment and early years of the laboratory, including records relating to its founding, organization, and initial operations. The records provide evidence of the evolution of sub-arctic research at McGill University and the station's role in supporting scientific investigations in northern Quebec.

Apart from student laboratory notes in physics, 1919, Shaw's papers consist of printed and mimeographed reports on a miscellaneous group of chemical topics, but with a significant percentage on ethylene, propylene, acetylene and ethers, together with some of Shaw's manuscript notes and charts. Also included is his report to Canadian Electro Products on acetaldol formation.