Among the collections curated by the library is the SHMS Institutional Archives. The archives are a private collection of documents pertaining to the business, financial, and academic operations of Sacred Heart Major Seminary. The records collected are primarily paper documents but do include a limited number of photographs, yearbooks, blueprints, ephemera, miscellaneous artwork, and items related to the liturgy. The archive also contains the student publication, The Gothic. The archive does not maintain student or personnel records for the seminary.

While the SHMS Institutional Archive is not generally available to the public, use of the archive collection is possible with approval of the Rector and in strict adherence to the Archive Usage Policy.

It is important to note that SHMS does not own any genealogical material or records for the Archdiocese of Detroit. Anyone pursuing this type of research should contact the official archive of the Archdiocese of Detroit.