The collection assembled by William Morse reflected his research interests and his ideas on what works should be available for consultation by serious scholars. The exploration and early settlement of Acadia, the history of the Maritimes, the evolution of printing, the book arts, important classics in both the humanities and the sciences, the works of Bliss Carman and George Santayana, works about General James Wolfe, and Norse legends are the major research fields represented in the collection.

This fonds includes a variety of photographic material relating to the Marine Workers Federation. As well this fonds contains a copy of the newspaper "The Nova Scotia Worker" Issued by the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour.

This fonds contains Dalhousie Staff Association newsletters from 1974-1980, collective agreements from 1975-1990, general notices from 1979-1980, meeting and member recruitment posters from various years, a pamphlet about the Dalhousie Staff Association, and a copy of the 1976 constitution.

The fonds consist of records that document the administrative and operational activities of the Maritime School of Social Work. These include general correspondence, committee minutes, financial records, reports, statistics, program information, course materials, examination records, newspaper clippings, memorabilia, photographs, as well as documentation of relationships with outside organizations.

Fonds consists of textual documents created and accumulated by various groups and organizations within the Institute of Public Affairs/Henson College. Documents include articles, correspondence, minutes, memos, newspaper and magazine clippings, interviews, field notes, pamphlets, and reports. Many of the documents pertain to the internal operations of the IPA.

The fonds also contains research proposals and reports related to energy, community growth, urban and rural development, labour studies, education, economic and industrial development, the medical sector, and housing. There is significant work on the status of African Nova Scotians in the employment and economic structure of Nova Scotia and the health of people in the Maritime provinces.

The fonds also contains reference material kept by the IPA in its corporate library, which was used in the research and drafting of various reports.