Fonds consists of original files and printed materials falling into two themes. The larger of the two concerns Pavlasek’s work on the Superior Council of Education (1967-1972). Correspondence, notes and minutes deal with the establishment of the Université du Québec, the organization of a Council of universities, and legislation regarding capital funding of universities. The McGill Senate is the subject of the second group, comprising correspondence, minutes, reports and submissions from 1963 to 1971.

Fonds documents Shaw's research and teaching activities, his work with associations, and the progress of his personal career. Shaw's research papers and reading notes (1909-ca 1924) include reports on zonal harmonics and electrodynamometer constants; a group of notes, graphs, photographs, letters and draft articles on tides in the lower St. Lawrence (1917-1924); meteorological tests at Father Point (1917); and an outline for a book on heat.

His university teaching is documented by lecture notes, supplemented by synopses, experiment outlines and assignments, for courses taught by Shaw between 1918 and 1934. These include courses in mechanics (1918), the kinetic theory of matter, and submolecular physics (1919-1920), molecular physics (1923-1924, 1928-1929), electricity (1919), thermodynamics (1920-1922, 1931-1934), thermoelectricity (ca 1931), and heat, light, and sound (1921-1922). Extension courses and popular lectures from 1919-1936 are covered by copies of approximately 18 lectures, occasionally with news clippings or correspondence attached, on molecular structure, electronics, relativity, heat, crystal structure, solar eclipses, and the social and historical dimensions of science.

Correspondence files deal with Shaw's involvement with scientific associations. These cover the American Association for the Advancement of Science's 1938 meeting in Ottawa, and the activities of the Canadian Journal of Research (1947-1950). Shaw's presidency of the Québec division of the Association Committee on Physics and Engineering Physics (1925-1926) is documented by correspondence, materials collected for the division's 1926 report, and reports of the Associate Committees annual meetings, 1923-1930. There is also a copy of Shaw's 1932 Presidential Address to Section III of the Royal Society of Canada.

The progress of Shaw's career is recorded by a few dozen letters regarding his appointment at McGill and his application for a post at Lehigh University (1911-1927); printed memorabilia of Cambridge events, photographs of Cavendish Laboratory associates, and about a half dozen brief notes from Sir J.J. Thomson; C.O.T.C. training materials (1914-1916); correspondence with William Bell Cartmel on ether drift experiments (1934-1938); club accounts; a few personal letters (ca 1930); and several photographic portraits of Shaw.

Fonds consists of manuscripts and typescripts of articles and lectures on literary topics. A few items reflect Walter’s interest in drama and his private life.

The literary addresses and articles fall into three subject-areas: German, French, and Indian. A series of lectures to the Montréal Goethe Society (1932, 1933, 1935, 1936) discusses Goethe's biography, his attitudes to music, and his dramatic works. Goethe is also the subject of a McGill lecture (1906) and an article for the University of Toronto Quarterly. In other lecture series, Walter treated Ibsen and the 20th century German novel (1936); as well, shorter studies of Adolf Schafheitlin, Superman in German literature, German bibliography, and an address to Shaar Hashamayim regarding the political conditions in Germany in 1933 can be found here. Addresses delivered to the McGill Cercle Français and to the University of Toronto discuss French phonetics, neologisms, symbolist literature, German universities, and Paul Lemaître. Walter's interest in Oriental civilization is reflected in a series of four lectures on Indian philosophy, religion and literature (1949) and an address on Yogis. His work as a book reviewer and drama critic is revealed by a file of clippings and typescripts.

Walter's 1936 production at McGill of von Kotzebue's “Die deutschen Kleinstadten” is documented by his annotated copy of the script and a scene design. This and other dramatic productions are the subject of photographs and newsclippings in a biographical scrapbook. The scrapbook also contains testimonials to Walter and clippings of articles by and about his literary activities, and about a case of alleged attempted poisoning at which he was the plaintiff.

Fonds consists of lecture notes prepared in connection with a survey course on Greek and Roman literature (1924-1954), as well as examination questions for this course (1951), and copies of humorous verse about McGill staff members.

Fonds consists of a corrected typescript of The Power and the Glory: an outsider looks at biology," as well as copies of an article and three other speeches.

McDonald's correspondence, 1791-1860, mostly concerns business and property matters, but also includes personal correspondence. There are statements of account with McTavish, Frobisher & Co., 1799; with McTavish, Fraser & Co., 1803-1804; with McTavish, McGillivray & Co., 1808-1809. There are two volumes of autobiographical notes assembled in 1859 and covering the period 1791-1816.

There is a second copy of the autobiography, probably transcribed in the late 19th century. Written on the front fly leaf is the name: A.E. MacDonald. It has 63 leaves, and there are minor textual variants.

These McGill papers are entirely concerned with his property and estate. They comprise legal documents and copies of letters (some in McGill's hand) concerning his land holdings on St. Paul St., Montréal, in Stanbridge, and in Detroit. McGill's cash book, 1809-1815, and copy by W.D. Lighthall of a deed of conveyance to McGill of some land formerly occupied by the city fortifications, 1805, are also included, as is a blue-print and sketch by W.D. Lighthall of the site of McGill's St. Paul St. house. Estate papers comprise a probate of McGill's will, copied by Alice Lighthall, and his executor's cash book.

The fonds consists of documents, photographs, films, and objects relevant to the professional and personal history of Samuel Joseph Noumoff. The scope predominantly covers the period from 1970-2006, and includes Professor Noumoff’s published articles and unpublished drafts, including some translated editions. His personal papers include professional and personal correspondence, especially letters to and from his wife Francesca and the contacts he made during his travels, materials related to his family history, photographs and ephemera of his travels in South East Asia.

Traquair's papers largely concern his work as a lecturer. School of Architecture lectures in architectural history cover the classical, mediaeval and modern periods (ca 1935-1936), while those on architectural ornament are largely devoted to lettering. Miscellaneous lectures, about 30 in number, were delivered between about 1924 and 1937 to various audiences, such as school children, extension students and members of art and architectural associations. They deal with architectural history, architectural principles both aesthetic and social, and other art forms (painting, carpets, heraldry etc.)

Material relating to Traquair's publications includes drafts of about 15 articles on many of the same topics as the lectures described above, and stemming from the same period. A special series of notes and manuscripts, together with some correspondence, illustrates Traquair's research on Québec arts.

Fonds concerns Forsey's activities as a student, and later as a teacher at McGill. Included are his fourth-year essay on Chaucer's Summoner's Tale, and his valedictory address (1925). His teaching career at McGill is documented by a file of correspondence, memoranda, and examination papers relating to one of Forsey's students in 1939, and files of correspondence concerning Forsey's reappointment in 1940 in the light of accusations, from various quarters, of Communist sympathies. Two letters from Forsey (1973, 1980) illustrate his later perspective on these events.