Fonds consists of research materials and writings generated by journalist Maggie Siggins during the production of five books: 'Bassett: His Forty Years in Politics, Publishing, Business, and Sports' (James Lorimer and Company, 1979); 'Brian and the Boys: A Study of Gang Rape' (James Lorimer and Company, 1984); 'A Canadian Tragedy: JoAnn and Colin Thatcher: A Study of Love and Hate' (Macmillan of Canada, 1985); 'Revenge of the Land: A Century of Greed, Tragedy and Murder on a Saskatchewan Farm' (McClelland and Stewart, 1991); and 'Riel: A Life of Revolution' (Harper Collins, 1994). While the arrangement varies amongst the various accessions, as a whole the records fall into four main series: Research Files, Interviews, Legal Materials, and Writings. The products of Siggins' thorough research, the first series contains magazine and news clipping, correspondence, biographical information on subjects and informants, notes, bibliographies, background materials, chronologies, photographs, articles, and copies of archival documents. The second series consists of audio recordings and/or transcripts of interviews with an extensive array of individuals who played major or minor roles in the events Siggins describes. Since a number of her books deal with court cases, the fonds also includes comprehensive legal documentation including proceedings of hearings and trials, affidavits, judgements, and files relating to forensic and medical evidence, laws and legal arguments, and testimony. The final series consists of outlines, drafts, manuscripts, galleys and correspondence relating to the writing and publication of the books. It should be noted that although Siggins' research occurred since 1979, the research files contain extensive historical material. This is particularly true for the Riel records in which is assembled a comprehensive collection of archival documents copied from repositories across Canada, and dating back to the early 1800s. Relating to the 'Bassett' book, the fonds includes only tape recorded interviews.