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The collection covers the period from 1889 to 1964, although only a small number ofpapers have survived from before 1910. Correspondence makes up a large proportion of thecollection. As the letters are nearly all personal in their content and are seldomrestricted to any particular subject, activity or interest, it was not practicable todivide them into series; instead they have all been kept in one chronological sequence.Many of the letters are those which passed between Vance and Nettie on the occasionsthey spent apart. Most of the remainder are from people who have achieved some standingin Australian literary history.

The papers in this collection were accumulated over the course of Stow's life and career. They comprise correspondence, drafts of novels and poetry, photographs and slides, research notes, notebooks, personal diaries, news clippings; files on dealings with agents and publishers reviews by and about Stow; and a thesis on Stow's writing. Correspondents include Patrick White, A.D. Hope, Geoffrey Dutton, David Foster, A.N. Jeffares, Ralph Steadman, Naomi Mitchison, Annette B. Weiner, Russell Soaba, George Malko, Marlis Thiersch, Nevil Shute, Vincent Buckley, Max Cramer, Mary Durack Miller and Nicholas Jose. There is also a group of letters from Stow to his mother, Mary Stow and his sister Helen McArthur.

MS 6640 comprises correspondence, notebooks, manuscript and typescript drafts, proofs and an interview transcript (5 boxes, 1 fol. item).

MS 9274 comprises material relating to Giese's books Astronauts, Lost Souls and Dragons and Beyond Chinatown and, in MS Acc10. 132, others on which she has collaborated with writers such as Stanley Hunt, on the first full-scale Chinese Australian autobiography. There is also material relating to the National Library of Australia's Post-war Chinese Australians oral history project, including interviews with members of the Kwong, Yuen, Chin, Fong, Fong On and Tong families, and with community leaders, business and sportspeople, professionals, artists and intellectuals, and politicians. MS Acc17. 032 comprises drafts of talks and papers given to Chinese, professional and historical associations around Australia; at conferences and workshops in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Canberra, Cairns, Townsville, Bendigo and Newcastle; and drafts of articles published in The Australian, The Canberra Times, Asian Libraries, New Librarian, Oral History Association of Australia Journal, Migration and Voices. It includes book chapter drafts, radio scripts, reviews, correspondence, publicity and flyers, and digitised pictures.

The bulk of the papers in MS Acc09.028 relate to the many theatrical productions on which Sharman has worked over the course of his career. They include correspondence, including a small group of letters from Patrick White, scripts, production notes, reviews, ephemera, photographs, scrap books, costume designs and research notes. There is also correspondence with family, friends and colleagues, appointment diaries, diaries containing Sharman's writings and miscellanous papers relating to specific productions, photographs, posters and a large collection of programs. There is a small group of papers and photographs relating to Sharman's father, James Michael (Jimmy) Sharman (63 boxes, 8 large cartons, 19 fol. boxes, 13 oversize packets).

The papers in this collection extend from Meale's childhood until the early 2000s. They include correspondence, music manuscripts, contracts and financial records, programs, speeches, radio scripts, lectures, research material, notebooks, diaries, recordings, photographs, family history papers, published music used and collected by Meale, newspaper cuttings, ephemera and publications generally about Meale.

The bulk of the papers relate to Shirley McKechnie's involvement in the development of contemporary dance in Australia. The papers include correspondence, 1966-1996, a report of a 1974 study tour to investigate how dance is incorporated into the education system and a subsequent submission of the State College of Victoria Accreditation Committee, 1977, papers relating to a choreographic workshop at the University of New England, 1976, copies of papers presented at a dance education conference, 1977, papers relating to 'Canon for four dancers' which was choreographed by McKechnie, 1988, a report of a visit to China for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 1992, and papers relating to the first meeting of the Tertiary Dance Council of Australia, 1996. Also included in this collection are papers relating to McKechnie's involvement in the Green Mill Dance Project, 1991-1994, and her long association with both Dame Peggy van Praagh and Peter Brinson. There are posters, programs and brochures, 1956-1972, press cuttings, 1964-1996, photographs, and correspondence. Correspondents include Werdon Anglin, Peter Brinson, Lenton Parr, Gordon van Praagh, Peggy van Praagh, Ian Spink and Janet Vernon.

The collection comprises personal and business papers relating to Spate's career as art historian, academic, author and curator and includes correspondence, research files, family papers and juvenilia, book drafts, slides and posters.

The collection comprises personal and professional records of various members of the Colleano family, who performed as "Colleano's All Star Circus" in Australia and internationally in the early twentieth century. The collection, derived from the contortionist Rubye Mae Colleano (née Browne), wife of Con Colleano's brother James Bonar Colleano Snr (1893-1957), includes correspondence, professional agreements, material re. Captain Geoffrey Wikner's Halifax flight to Australia, receipts, programmes, press cuttings, and approx. 500 photographs. The photographs include studio portraits of Colleano family members, inscribed photographs of theatrical entertainers, postcards, and family photographs including parties, holidays, aircraft, sports and pets.

The collection comprises papers relating to McKenna's writings including the biography, An eye for eternity: the life of Manning Clark, (2011) with associated correspondence, diary extracts, essays, an interview transcript, newspaper clippings, anecdotes, reminiscences and notes about Manning Clark.The collection also includes papers relating to The Australian Republican Movement, Anzac, Kate Grenville, the Kristallnacht controversy.