The material is comprised of correspondence, proposals, surveys, conference reports, personnel information and guides. Spencer's records document the administrative, financial and supervisory aspects of his career at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). The bulk of the material is correspondence, primarily of an interoffice nature, detailing the development and sources of funding in both government and industry as well as the private sector and the research interests of the scientific departments. There are proposals for grants, feasibility studies, and correspondence recording actions taken by the members of the Development Committee. Other files document his participation as an advisor to the National Center for Atmospheric Research and paticipation in conferences on the computer network at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, as well as documenting his role as Chairman of the Ocean Industry Program (OIP). Of particular interest are his paper on the "Development of University/Industry Cooperative Research Centers: A Practice Manual"; material on two workshops set up by the OIP Committee at WHOI: "Marine Policy and Economics and the use of the Sea"; and "Developments in Coastal Ocean Dynamics". The OIP files contain materials which predate Spencer's role as chairman and as such, document the history of the program. Files on Sediment Trap Intercomparison Experiment (STIE) and Geochemical Ocean Sections Study (GEOSECS) also detail WHOI's involvement in these conferences and programs.