Biggar, Saskatchewan, will be celebrating the Centennial of becoming a Town in 2011. 2009 marks the Centennial for the Village of Biggar.

The time has come to tell the story of our town and its people in the format of the twenty first century, the world-wide web. Rather than having our history hide away in a filing cabinet or microfilm reel lets tell the world our story. I am launching the Biggar Encyclopaedia "wiki" on the internet. Most web users have heard of the Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia. If you are not familiar with a "wiki", at the Wikipedia website they explain it this way. "A wiki is a medium which can be edited by anyone with access to it, and provides an easy method for linking from one page to another. Wikis are typically collaborative websites, though there are now also single-user offline implementations. Ward Cunningham, developer of the first wiki, WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as "the simplest online database that could possibly work". One of the best-known wikis is Wikipedia.

What I have created is going to be a collaborative undertaking where anyone knowledgeable, or interested in preserving Biggar’s history can participate.

This "wiki" website allows for the participation of many not just one individual or editorial team. The role of the creator is to facilitate the project. If it becomes necessary, I will recruit others to help manage the project. The success of the project will hinge upon the effort and interest of Biggar citizens past and present.

The Biggar Museum & Gallery has a wonderfull archive of newspaper clippings and they also have The Independent on microfilm. Researchers may access this material for research purposes. A lot of Biggar’s history can be told by studying what was printed in the local newspaper. Also, many of you have "memories" that need to be preserved. The Biggar Encyclopaedia is the place to preserve this valuable heritage and culture knowledge.

I’ve listed over 325 topics and people under the letters of the alphabet which are awaiting adoption. No doubt there are topics and people which I have missed. That is no problem. If there is a topic or person, for which you can contribute content, it can be easily added to the list by adding a page with a title under the appropriate letter of the alphabet.

Anyone can contribute content to the wiki by joining the wiki and then sending a writers request. The wiki is set up so only those who are set up as writers can contribute or edit content. Everyone and anyone will be able to view the Biggar Encyclopaedia as it progresses.

If you have any questions or would like to contact me without joining the wiki, send an email to: rwcambe@sasktel.net


Rae W. Chamberlain
Creator