Papers are sorted in box files by subject, on the following topics:

- Ryder's book 'Sheep and Man', including original illustrations and correspondence (15 box files); textiles and weaving (3 box files);
- Sheep and wool in the Mediterranean, Central Europe and the Middle East (3 box files);
- Skin biology, wool and other animal hair, wool colour (7 box files);
- St Kilda, Orkney and Shetland sheep (2 box files);
- Archaeological textiles, clothing, rugs and carpets (4 box files);
- Skin and parchment, wool in archaeology, textile diameters, lanolin, preparation of Ryder's book 'Wool Growth' (8 box files);
- Sheep and wool in France (2 box files);
- General animal domestication and evolution (6 box files);
- Plants and textiles, dyes, wool fibres, UK sheep breeds, agricultural history (6 box files);
- Sheep and wool in Asia, Scandinavia, Central Europe and the Balkans (6 box files);
- Archaeo-zoology and archaeology (8 box files);
- Sheep and wool in Australia, New Zealand, Holland and Germany (2 box files).

Box files contain academic papers, newspaper, magazine and academic journal clippings, photographs, postcards, booklets and pamphlets and correspondence with international researchers.