One of the many traumatic aspects of the First World War is that so many of those involved felt unable to share their experiences with family and friends. Instead, they committed their thoughts to paper. It is such treasures that the National Library of Scotland has exploited in its new website, Experiences of War.

The war is shown from three very different perspectives, that of Field Marshall Earl Haig, who was the British Commander in Chief for most of the conflict, of Lance-Corporal George Ramage of the Gordon Highlanders, who in his diary reveals the horror of what it was like to be at the front near Ypres in 1915, and of a civilian, Mairi Chisholm, who rode all the way from Scotland to London on her motorbike to volunteer to look after the wounded and spent most of the war tending casualties at the front in Belgium. From these accounts, it is possible to gain a broad personalised view of the war in Europe.

The three parts follow a similar format: a brief biographical entry, reactions to the start of the war in 1914, details of the fighting and personal experiences. Haig’s entries go further, looking at issues such as propaganda and the battles of the Somme and Passchendaele. This is particularly insightful, given the controversy which has surrounded Haig since the end of the war and criticism over the huge losses of life.

Each section makes effective use of photographs, which can be enlarged, to match the text given by the three diarists and contains extracts from original documents, plus typed transcripts.

The site provides proof of what the great First World War poet Wilfred Owen referred to: “My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity.”

The language level is pitched so that the general user, be it pupil or adult, can easily access the materials. A section of in-depth studies gives more details about aspects of the war. There is also guidance on how the materials could be used to support the 5-14 environmental studies and Standard grade curriculum, with various levels of tasks covering several aspects of the conflict.

The site is easy to use, as demonstrated by pupils of Sciennes Primary in Edinburgh, where George Ramage taught after being discharged on medical grounds, at the launch of the website by the present Earl Haig.

The NLS gets top marks for being both educational and making its rich archive accessible to many more readers. The website offers links to several other important sites, including the Public Record Office, where all the official documents relating to the war are housed. It also contains a useful suggested reading list, which guides the user in the general direction of a greater understanding of the conflict.

The NLS, following on from the success of its Churchill website, is showing the way forward for libraries and museums in the Internet age.

Jim McGonigle Jim McGonigle is principal teacher of history at Hermitage Academy in Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute, and chair of the Scottish Association of History Teachers