The Jay N. Darling collection consists of 60 linear feet of material, organized into nine series. Since this collection is made up of a series of gifts made at different times and arranged according to different schemes, its organization is sometimes complex. A thorough biographical note follows this scope and contents note, as does a list of related materials in other collections.

Series I: The Cartoons; Proof copies, clippings, and other reproductions of Darling's cartoons that are held physically by the Libraries are described in this section of the finding aid. Late in his life Darling said that he thought he had drawn 15,000 cartoons for newspapers, magazines, to illustrate books, and even for use in advertisements. These cartoons exist in many forms, ranging from the original 22 x 28 inch ink drawings to pressman's impressions to clippings from newspapers and tear sheets from magazines to photostatic and photographic reproductions. This series contains lists of Ding's favorite cartoons, lists of cartoons, index to missing cartoons, and "Looking Through the Years With Ding." It also includes the printed scans from the digitization project created by Darling's grandson, Christopher "Kip" Darling Koss. The Libraries holds some 6000 original drawings; these are now indicated on the metadata records that are part of the digitized cartoons available for searching or browsing on the Iowa Digital Library.

Series II: Other Art Forms; Illustrations for articles, books, advertising; building panels; watercolors; sketches; and etchings. Besides newspaper cartoons, Darling created non-cartoon illustrations for various magazines and products, and he made etchings and watercolors.

Series III: Personal Files; Includes biographical essays, photographs, scrapbooks, honors and awards, and public service records. It also includes travel materials like souvenirs, postcards, travel maps, and expenses.The scrapbooks deal with Darling's family life, travels, conservation, politics and the cat whisker incident (see scrapbook #7 for further details). These scrapbooks contain mostly newspaper clippings, but also cards, programs, and letters. These materials are fragile. Some of the items once pasted down have come unstuck; others were never pasted but merely laid between pages of the scrapbooks. Some of the scrapbooks have a definite scheme, (e.g.,"J. N. Darling for Senator"), but for the most part, there seems to be no unifying theme.

Series IV: Writings; this series contains Darling's copious correspondence, his own writings, and writings about him. The correspondence are organized based on the physical arrangment of the materials and are seperated by date, people, subject, and individual U.S. state. Each section has unique material that does not overlap with the other categories. This series also includes essays and articles about but not by Darling, including materials about cartooning in general.

Series V: Conservation; includes materials used by Ding for the purpose of conservation. includes files on the American Wildlife Institute, Civilian Conservation Council, Clearinghouse for Conservation, conservation education, Council of Conservationists, General Wildlife Federation, Institute for the Restoration of Wildlife, Iowa Natural Resources Council, Izaak Walton League, Jay N. Darling Wildlife Refuge and Society, National Wildlife Federation, Okoboji Lakeside Laboratory, United States Fish and Game Service, and Wildlife Society, among other items. This series also includes files from the J.N. "Ding" Darling Foundation.

Series VI: Audio Visual Materials; This series consists of all the different audio visual formats of the collection. The formats include cassettes, CDs, Dictabelts, DVDs, Floppy Disks, Negatives, Teaching Slides, and VHS. The largest part of this series are the dictabelts which hold recordings of Darling's voice that he used in his later years to send correspondence and take notes.