The collection provides a great deal of information about Shelley Miller's career and personal and professional interests. It includes materials from the organizations with which Miller was involved, both for social and political reform in the United States and in Latin America, as well as community organizations in Lawrence, Kansas such as the Community Mercantile, the East Lawrence Improvement Association (ELIA), and the Lawrence Association of Neighbors (LAN). The collection includes information dating from the civil war period for El Salvador as well as information on Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Cuba, and several other Central and South American and Caribbean countries.

The collection also includes information about Miller's school work and her involvement with the Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM), as well as her work with the Library of Congress and University of Kansas libraries in the Department for Spain, Portugal, and Latin America (SPLAT).

Other topics in Miller's papers include elections and politics in the United States and Latin America, historic preservation efforts for buildings in Lawrence, feminism and women's rights, anti-war/nuclear energy concerns, and health and nutrition.