The Dorset Federation of Women’s Institutes War Record Book 1939-1945. The page for Charmouth. Courtesy Dorset Library Service/Dorset History Centre/Dorset School Library Service

The winners and highly commended entries in a national competition to make spectacular treasures from public libraries available via the web were announced at the British Library on September 4 2007.

The Hidden Treasures competition ran between May 2006 and June 2007 and saw librarians across the UK send in some 82 entries worthy of being transformed by the British Library’s online digitisation project Turning the Pages 2.0 virtual texts.

Winning items range from a 12th century legal work containing the earliest record of the English language to a fascinating first-hand account of life in rural Caernarfonshire in the middle of the 19th century, as experienced by an unusually observant 14-year-old.

The Diaries of William Searell of Beddgelert, Caernarfonshire, 1844-46. Courtesy Conwy County Borough Council: Libraries, Information and Culture Service

Other items chosen for the innovative online project include a spectacular illuminated missal and a beautifully illustrated war record book containing stories of evacuees, enemy airmen, the coming of the American army and even jam making during wartime.

"Turning the Pages is a wonderful development technically, but its real value is in the way it makes often hidden treasures widely accessible,” said Tony Durcan, President of the Society of Chief Librarians. “I am delighted with the results and I hope that this is the start of many Turning the Pages 2.0 facilities across the United Kingdom.”

The five winning libraries will each have 30 pages of their nominated item digitised, converted into Turning the Pages 2.0 format and shared with the world via the British Library website for three years, giving these treasures a far wider audience than would have ever been possible through traditional exhibition.

The Textus Roffensis – an iconic work, compiled 1123-24, containing the first recorded English laws and the coronation oath of Henry I, which influenced the barons who drafted Magna Carta. Courtesy Medway Libraries

Each Turning the Pages 2.0 package is sponsored by Microsoft and highly commended libraries will be eligible to purchase a hugely discounted Turning the Pages 2.0 ‘toolkit’ allowing them to build and manage their own online libraries.

The competition is designed to signify the direction of library services in the digital age. According to Elaine Fulton, Director of the Scottish Library and Information Council, “The ability to provide digital access to unique material held in our public libraries is a critical part of supporting cultural heritage, history and diversity.”

Sir George Leonard Staunton’s Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China, 1797. Courtesy Belfast Central Library

The winning entries:

· Dorset Federation of Women’s Institutes War Record Book 1939-1945 (Dorset Library Service in partnership with Dorset History Centre and Dorset School Library Service) (England) – a unique volume which provides a compelling snapshot of life on the Home Front.

· The Textus Roffensis (Medway Libraries, Kent) (England) – an iconic work, compiled 1123-24, containing the first recorded English laws and the coronation oath of Henry I, which influenced the barons who drafted Magna Carta.

· The Arbuthnott Manuscripts (Renfrewshire Council) (Scotland) – a spectacular illuminated missal, containing a blood-curdling rite of excommunication, which was one of the few Scottish items of its kind to survive the Reformation.

· Sir George Leonard Staunton’s Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China, 1797 (Belfast Central Library) (Northern Ireland) – volumes containing finely detailed mezzotint plates, which describe and illustrate the visit of the first British envoy to China.

· The Diaries of William Searell of Beddgelert, Caernarfonshire, 1844-46 (Conwy County Borough Council: Libraries, Information and Culture Service) (Wales) – begun when the author was 14 and providing vivid and unique insights into mid-19th century Welsh rural life.

The highly commended entries:

· David Patton’s ‘A Dilaogue betuext the Old and New Burgar Kirk of dunfermlne…’ (sic), 1811, (Fife Council Libraries) – a self-penned title illustrated by the author’s own woodcuts.

· Photographs of Edinburgh’s Old Town 1866-1871 (Edinburgh City Libraries and Information Services) – photographs and commentary on the vanished face of the Scottish capital.

· Richard de Jersey’s Book of Navigation, 1737 (The Priaulx Library, Guernsey) – lavishly illustrated manuscript volume.

· Foundling Hospital Billet Book, circa 1760 (City of London Libraries) – admissions book recording the details of abandoned babies.

· An Hibernian Atlas…, 1798 (Irish and Local Studies Library, Armagh) – a visual interpretation of pre-Famine Ireland and a beautiful example of Peter Bernard Scale’s cartography, completed whilst working with his master John Rocque.