The fonds consists of correspondence, course material, research and interview notes, articles, speeches, transcripts, grant applications, and other records pertaining to Dale Thomson's activities as a researcher, professor, journalist and Liberal Party activist from the 1940s to 1999 in Canada, The United States and other parts of the world. There is also a considerable amount of original, primary source material collected by Dale Thomson for his books. The fonds is composed of the following series:

1. Research Activities
2. Teaching and Administrative Activities
3. Political Activities

Although there are three separate series, it must be noted that some information contained in series files is often relevant to more than that area of activity. This is especially true of correspondence files.