The collection is divided into ten major series: Personal papers, Film Projects, Stage Projects, Television Projects, James Bond Projects, Technical and Historical Research Data, Defense Studies, Moving Parts, Scale Models, and Sylvia Kamion Maibaum Papers. Each series is arranged alphabetically by subject or title, and chronologically within these divisions.

The Personal Papers include biographical material, correspondence, interviews, tributes, photographs, and other general files that are unassociated with specific projects.

The Film Projects series is composed of produced and unproduced projects which involved Richard Maibaum as screenwriter or producer. Scripts, clippings, reviews, and other associated materials can be found within the specific project.

The James Bond material appears in a separate series, containing an extensive collection of notes, sketches, screen treatments, screenplay drafts, and final scripts representing most of the James Bond movies. Of the sixteen films produced by Cubby Broccoli, Maibaum wrote or co-wrote thirteen. Clippings, correspondence, publicity material, articles, photographs, and other items complete this series.

Some of Maibaum's earliest works are contained in Stage Projects, including his master's thesis, The Tree, which was produced at The University of Iowa. This was one of the first creative works ever accepted as a thesis by any university.

Among the items in the Television Projects are teleplays, clippings, and correspondence.

The following two series, Technical and Historical Research Data and Defense Studies, contain research material on war-related topics, including notes, clippings, broachures, and model kit diagrams.

The Moving Parts series consists of drawings, guides, and documents associated with Moving Parts: The Richard Maibaum Films Miniatures Collection as compiled by Maibaum's son, Matthew. Bound volumes and related research can also be found here.

The Sylvia Kamion Maibaum Papers series consists of documents, correspondence, and music arrangements from and for Maibaum's wife, Sylvia. This series also contains some work from Bernard Whitefield and Matthew Maibaum.

See below note for more on Scale Models.