The Janet Adams papers date from 1980 to 2010 and measure 5.7 linear feet in 14 boxes. The papers are arranged in five series: Biographical, Correspondence, Professional, League of Women Voters, and Topical Files.

The Biographical series (1984) consists of newspaper clippings, awards, diary excerpts, and biographical forms from Adams’ life as a politician, teacher, and volunteer.

The Correspondence series (1983-2006) comprises primarily correspondence related to her legislative service, including a significant set of letters from constituents. Many of the constituent correspondence files contain call notes briefly documenting Adams' telephone conversations with constituents and others. General personal and professional letters as well as correspondence from her time as president of Iowa League of Women Voters complete this series.

The Professional series (1984-2010) contains materials from Adams’ political campaigns and legislative service. Campaign materials include flyers and letters mailed to voters and ephemera such as campaign-branded calendars. Legislative service records include bill copies, speech and debate notes, documentation of legislative events, press releases and newsletters, and a constituent opinion survey from 1992. The sub-series Mental Health compiles Adams’ work on mental healthcare reform as an Iowa House representative. Resource files for alternative forms of care, such as community-based services, information from the Mental Health Task Force, and Adams’ role in the legislature to amend the Iowa Bill of Rights language towards people with mental illness or developmental disabilities are included in the sub-series. The photographs in this series appear to mainly document Adams' time as a legislator and/or were created for use in campaign materials.

The League of Women Voters series (1980-2006) consists of board meeting agendas and minutes, various league projects including voter registration drives and support work for the Iowa caucus, as well as political debates. The Debates sub-series encompasses the 1982 gubernatorial debate between Terry E. Branstad and Roxanne Barton Conlin, the 1984 senatorial debate between republican Robert Jepsen and democrat Tom Harkin (including photographs), and league critiques of the debate forum format.

The Topical Files series (1980-1996) involves a variety of documents from Adams’ role as both an Iowa state representative and president of the Iowa League of Women Voters. Topics include health care, environmental issues, education, and energy.