The archive comprises the majority of 246 documents used by the University as evidence in its dispute with ICL. These documents were produced by the Department of Computer Science, and date from the 1950s to the 1970s. They include internal administrative documents, and various printed materials (such as computer manuals, reports, and other grey literature). Some of the documents relate directly to the development of the MU5 computer, but also its predecessors at the Department as the University wished to demonstrate continuity and lineage of its contributions to mainframe computing. The collection does not include any material directly relating to the legal case, although some of these papers are retained at the School of Computer Science .
Not all documents re present in the collection; some which were supplied from outside the Department were returned to their office of custody, while others paper not have been retained after the case was settled. Items have not been located, and have possibly been destroyed. Bursar's files relating to the Computing Machine Laboratory, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science departments are believed to have been returned to the Bursar's Office after the completion of the case; their current whereabouts are unknown. Items 136-139 were Vice-Chancellor's files relating to Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Departments, these are now part of the Vice-Chancellor's archive (VCA/7/1061-1064).Some other documents have also not been located.