The Nancy V. "Rusty" Barceló papers date from 1946 to 2005 and measure 5 linear feet. The collection is organized into five series: Personal, Professional Career, Photographs, Family History and Artifacts.

The Personal series focuses on Barceló's youth, education and participation in sports, and includes correspondence with her family.

The Professional Career series is separated into several sub-series. The University of Oregon sub-series focuses on the years 1973-1975 during which Barceló held the position of Educational Opportunity Services Coordinator. The series includes reports prepared by that office, files documenting challenges faced by minority students and conflicts between groups on campus.

The sub-series University of Iowa represents the bulk of the collection and is arranged chronologically. This series reflects Barceló's career advances and her professional interests as well as her involvement with students on and off campus and with the larger community. The series illustrates the ways in which Barceló's work as student, administrator, community member and activist often intersected. Barceló's work for Opportunity at Iowa recruiting minority students to the University brought her into contact with Latino communities throughout the Midwest. As a result, the University of Iowa series is a rich source of information on Latinos and other minorities, not only in Iowa but in the Midwest. Materials documenting the history of Latinos in Iowa include a 1963 economic survey of Cook's Point, a Mexican-American community in the railroad yards of Davenport.

The University of Minnesota and University of Washington sub-series include correspondence, speeches and newspaper articles from 1996-2002.

The Northern New Mexico College sub-series includes articles, brochures, and inauguration ceremony ephemera relating to Barcelo's appointment as president of the college in 2010.

The majority of the Photographs are unidentified and undated. They include a wide range of social, academic and political activities.

The Family History series contains photocopies of legal documents and correspondence pertaining to Barceló's ancestors and their military service in Mexico. Due to their fragility, the original documents are closed.

The Artifacts series consists of materials pertaining to Barceló's activism, including a banner and a medal.