The papers of Austin E. and Alta S. Fife cover primarily the personal lives and correspondence of this prolific husband and wife research team who were the founders of the Fife Folklore Collection at Utah State University. Prior to her death, Alta Fife had organized much of her correspondence and personal papers as well as those of her husband. She also indicated in a note attached to the donated materials that much of the correspondence had been destroyed. However, what remains has been organized, as far as was possible, along the lines that Mrs. Fife proposed.

Box 1 is primarily personal, family, and genealogical information from both sides of her family. Oversize sheets used for genealogy are in Box 3. Box 2 contains Mrs. Fife's datebooks as well as journals kept by Austin Fife while in France in the 1960s. In addition to oversize genealogical data, Box 3 contains the journals Austin Fife kept during his LDS mission to France, written in both French and English, from 1929 to 1931. Boxes 4 and 5 contain correspondence between Alta and Austin, mostly during World War II while Austin was stationed overseas. It is important to note that during Austin's time in the Philippines, Alta and Austin numbered every letter they sent to each other to both ensure that every letter made it, and also to make referencing one another's letters easier. These numbers are noted on the folder descriptions. Boxes 6 through 11 contain all remaining correspondence grouped alphabetically. Mrs. Fife grouped her correspondence thematically so that all correspondence concerning one article are filed together and alphabetized by the primary reference. Thus, correspondence from various people may be found under one heading, and an individual or institution which has a separate folder, such as the Folklore Society of Utah, may be represented in other folders. Correspondence which had no clear reference to a larger issue, or which consisted of only one or two letters are filed under "A" Miscellaneous, "B" Miscellaneous, etc.

Box 12 contains the collected reviews of the Fifes' many books as well as a book given to Alta by Austin with an inscription in French to Alta on the title page. Box 13 contains items relating to the Man and His Bread museum Austin sought to establish in Logan, as well as newspaper clippings, articles, and advertisements relating to the Fifes and their work. Box 14, like boxes 6 through 11, contains correspondence, but this correspondence is focused solely on the Fifes' attempts to get permission to publish various musicians' and scholars' work, as well as permission granted by the Fifes to publish their work. This box likewise contains some miscellaneous items, such as collected articles by a friend, and an essay by D. Bufford which Alta helped to research.

Box 15 contains the papers relating to the establishment of the Fife Folklore Archives as well as research files used by Austin Fife to contains articles and essays useful to him in his work. The final box, Box 16, contains information regarding various committees on which Austin served, an index of every article written by Austin Fife, lectures given by Austin over the years, poetry written and translated by him, as well as many of his class notes and syllabi from his many years of teaching.