The Frank N. Young papers are organized into seven series. The Military service series contains documents related to Young's service in the Army and Army Reserves. Included in this series are orders which Young received, information on his service record and Army training, and correspondence with his family and friends. Overall, the dates for this series range from 1942 to 1994, but the bulk of the records date from his period on active duty, 1942-1946.

The Correspondence series contains both letters sent by Young and those he received. It is divided into two sub-series. In the first, correspondence is filed by the author/recipient's last name. The second sub-series is a subject file. Both are arranged alphabetically. The earliest material in this series dates from 1930 and the most recent from 1995. Most of the records, however, fall between 1950 and 1990.

The Research series consists of Young's project files and field notes and spans the period from 1950-1983. Young maintained his research notes and materials in project files which he identified by subject. Unfortunately, much of the material in this series is undated. Dates have been added to the folders where available. The project files are arranged alphabetically by subject. Young's spiral-bound field notebooks are gathered together following the project files.

A prolific author, Young began publishing while still in graduate school and continued to do so even after his retirement. The Publications series holds copies of his published articles, dating from 1942 to 1994, as well as copies of his Master's thesis and Doctoral dissertation. This series is arranged alphabetically by the title of the article. Included at the end of this series are scrapbooks created by Frank Young of his publications and publications that he was featured in. These scrapbooks are arranged chronologically.

The Professional activities series, spanning the period from 1949 to 1993, includes records relating to Young's service in various professional and University groups, such as the Bloomington Faculty Council. Also in this series are papers and speeches which Young gave at professional meetings or for community groups. Records of his involvement in professional organizations are arranged alphabetically by the group's name. Copies of his talks are arranged alphabetically by title.

The Teaching series contains materials which Young developed for the courses he taught while at Indiana University. Included are his lecture notes, handouts which he prepared for students, tests and quizzes, and laboratory exercises. Material in this series is grouped by the class for which it was written, and folders are organized by class number. Descriptive course titles have been added to the folders as well. Following the specific course material are a group of miscellaneous teaching files and bound volumes. These are organized alphabetically by subject. The material spans the period from 1944 to 1985, although a good deal of the material in this series is undated.

The Sketchbook series is arranged chronologically and contains a large number of Young's sketchbooks. Subject matter consists primarily of leaves, trees, and images from Young's travels.