[15] "When you have a lot of projects that are literally butting up against each other, the idea is to bleed between them" explains Dale Askey, the centre's Administrative Director, in regards to the potential for interdisciplinary research.

A specialized multimedia space, the centre facilitates the creation and use of new and traditional media within the academic community while teaching learning and researching.

The centre offers video and audio editing workstations, a Gaming and Media Theatre and consultation services.

Specialized collections include archives and rare books, data and statistics, government publications, audio and video materials, maps, atlases and aerial photos, music and theses.

In 2011, McMaster became the first Canadian university to provide access to the Visual History Archive of the Shoah Foundation Institute, consisting of nearly more than 52,000 testimonials of Holocaust survivors and witnesses.

[21][22] Named after William Ready (university librarian from 1966 until his retirement in 1979 that was instrumental in acquiring the Bertrand Russell Collection and Canadian Authors and 18th Century Collection), the holdings of the William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections reflect a range of topics including Canadian literature, politics, popular culture and business history, in addition to war and peace in the 20th century with an emphasis on the Holocaust and Resistance.

[24] A digitized copy of a 1943 wartime map of Hanover, Germany, held in the collection was used in the 2014 motion picture Fury.

[26] Used by members of the Allied forces the maps were produced in various scales, highlighting terrain, equipment and settlements relevant to specific logistical needs.