The fonds consists of textual records related to the operations and administration of the Percé Handicrafts Guild, the Black Whale Shop, as well other community initiatives sponsored by Percé Handicrafts Guild such as the the Black Whale Dental Clinic, and photographs of the shop and its volunteers. Operational and administrative files are intermingled with a range of informal correspondence, in particular many letters between Ethel Renouf and Phyllis Birks, and files of anecdotal notes and clips related to the Black Whale shop as well as to the history, flora, and geology of the Gaspé region.

Formal administrative records consist of letters patent for the Percé Handicrafts Guild, full minutes for 1939, and brief annual summaries of activities from 1933 to 1975. Legal documents comprise licence and registration papers, together with pertinent correspondence, 1938-1953, and a correspondence file relating to rental of the shop building. The financial side is illustrated by a cash book, 1934, and files of miscellaneous receipts, inventories, balance sheets and bookkeeping instructions, 1935-1971. Almost half the records of the Black Whale are informal in nature, for example, letters from Ethel Renouf to Phyllis Birks mixing personal news with accounts of shop operations and craft production, 1934-1937. Files of anecdotal notes and clippings relate the shop and to the history of the Gaspé, as well as on the flora and geology of the region. The fonds includes a copy of The Black Whale cookbook and some related records.. Some correspondence, budget notes and flyers pertain to the work of the Dental Clinic, 1939-1940. Sixty photographs featuring different views of the Black Whale handicrafts shop in Percé, Quebec, are also included. A number of photographs are individual and group portraits of the volunteers who created and ran the shop, including Ethel Renouf. A few photographs document a Black Whale Shop stand at the University of Montreal.

The collection consists primarily of manuscripts and typescripts of papers written on natural history topics, such as insects, birds, marine life, plants, and reptiles. Most of the documents concern the collection and cataloguing of specimens, and the identification of new species. Also included are research notes, notebooks, field notes, lecture notes, correspondence, off-prints, proofs, and galley proofs, as well as drawings and mock-ups of illustrations for printing.

The Philippines are the most heavily-represented country in the subject material of the collection, followed by other areas of South-East Asia and the South Pacific, including Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Singapore, Taiwan, the Soloman Islands, and Hawaii. There is also material representing North and Central America, including Mexico, the United States of America (especially California and Alaska), El Salvador, the Galapagos, and Canada (especially Quebec and Newfoundland). Some works also relate to China, the British Isles, Russia, Japan, New Zealand, and Socotra (Yemen).

Significant figures represented in the collection include: Richard Crittenden McGregor, A.E. Wileman, Edward Charles Stuart Baker, Frank Spaeth, Casey Albert Wood, Averil Lysaght, Harry S. Swarth, Henry Seebohm, Henry George Vennor, Roy E. Dickerson, J. Muir, and Charles Fuller Baker.

Highlights from the collection include: a manuscript copy of Joseph Banks’ journal from his 1768-1771 voyage on the Endeavour, likely made by Maria Dawson Turner; a manuscript, and several annotated typescript versions of Volume 5 of E.C. Stuart Baker’s “Fauna of British India birds”; an assortment of Casey A. Wood’s research notes; annotated proofs, galley proofs, and a mock-up of Richard C. McGregor and Elizabeth J. Marshall’s “Philippine birds for boys and girls;” and a binder of ornithological notes recorded by G.G. Ommanney and others in the Whitlock Bird Sanctuary and surrounding district near Hudson, Quebec.

Many of the manuscripts in the collection were published by the Philippine Journal of Science; also included is correspondence related to publication in the journal, especially related to editing and corrections.

Fonds consists of architectural drawings, textual records, and bound volumes. Architectural drawings and paper files are related to a proposal by Descon / Concordia in joint venture with Philip David Bobrow for "Operation Breakthrough" a program developed through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C. in 1970. "Operation Breakthrough" was a broad residential development program designed to resolve a multitude of problems in order to make available quality housing in large quantities by utilizing modern design and technology, and contemporary approaches to financing, marketing, land use and management. Other architectural drawings and a model of the Belec Residence, 1 Grove Park, Westmount QC, 1997-1998, are included. The fonds also contains 12 bound volumes of studies, programs, reports related to the Institution à sécurité maximale 2, Mirabel, QC, 1977,1979.

Fonds comprised of two envelopes addressed to Mr. Alex Sherman, Plum Hollow, Ontario , postmarked March 27, 1912 and February 26, 1913, and containing promotional advertisement materials for Bodi-Tone medicine. Included are "cured" patient testimonials, details on how to mail-order a box of Bodi-Tone medicine, and a signed letter from Bodi-Tone President, Sidney S. David. Fonds also includes purchase the receipt from Alexander Books, Ancaster, Ontario.

"Architectural Drawings, 1964-7, 19 drawings." Drawings for alterations to the Canadian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals building on Rue Jean Talon in Montreal and to the Ross house on St. Sulpice Road in Westmount, as well as drawings of the design of the Manoir Comeau in Baie Comeau, PQ, are found in the archive.
"Papers, 1964, 5 cm." The collection includes correspondence and invoices relating to the design and construction of alterations to the house of J. K. M. Ross on St. Sulpice Street in Westmount.

"Dessins architecturaux, 1964-1967, 19 dessins." Dessins d'un projet de modifications à l'immeuble de la SPCA rue Jean-Talon à Montréal et à la maison Ross, chemin Saint-Sulpice, à Westmount ainsi que des dessins du Manoir Comeau de Baie-Comeau (Québec).
"Documents, 1964, 5 cm." La correspondance et les factures rattachées au projet de modifications à la maison de J. K. M. Ross, chemin Saint-Sulpice à Westmount.

"Professional Papers, 1964-7, 3 cm." Correspondence, specifications, notes and clippings relating to the design of the Manoir Comeau in Baie Comeau, PQ (1966-7) and alterations to the Canadian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Montreal (1964-5), comprise the archive's holdings of this architectural firm.

"Documents professionnels, 1964-1967, 3 cm." De la correspondance, des cahiers des charges, des notes et des coupures de presse se rapportant aux projets du Manoir Comeau à Baie-Comeau (Québec) (1966-1967) et des modifications à l'immeuble de la SPCA à Montréal (1964-1965).

The fonds documents mainly Babkin's professional interests in physiology, especially glandular secretions and the nervous system. The fonds contains correspondence; lecture notes; citations; research notes and papers, including manuscripts sent to him by his colleagues; reprints of scientific articles mainly in Russian; and material used in the preparation of the biography of Ivan Pavlov. The latter contains correspondence with Ivan Petrovich Pavlov and members of his family, 1923-1948; photographs and portraits; and an unabridged typescript copy of Parts 1-3 of Pavlov: a Biography, with manuscript corrections, 1943-1946.

These papers almost exclusively consist of records of his research and publications. His publications files contain drafts of various scientific papers, largely on secretions, correspondence regarding the reception of Die Aussere Sekretion der Verdauungsdrusen (1928) and negotiations surronding the publication of the Pavlov biography, and a biographical file containing a curriculum vitae, bibliography, and correspondence concerning appointments, honorary degrees, (1923-1948). Research materials comprise six volumes of reports on laboratory experiments and a file of daily laboratory reports (1923-1943). Babkin's professional correspondence with scholars and scientific associations covers the years 1928 to 1943. Most of the letters, incoming and drafts of outoing, concern research problems, consultation on draft articles by colleagues, and Babkin's own publications. There are also negotiations for speaking engagements, and a scattering of items on Babkin's social involvements, e.g. relief for Russian refugees, and letters from students.

"Architectural Drawings, 1896, 11 drawings." Plans, elevations and sections document the design for a house for William Robb on Mountain Street in Montreal.
"Dessins architecturaux, 1896, 11 dessins." Des plans, des élévations et des coupes témoignent du projet de construction d'une maison pour William Robb, rue de la Montagne à Montréal.

Fonds consists of measured drawings by students in the McGill School of Architecture course, History of Domestic Architecture in Quebec (1990, 1992, 1996, 1999-2001).