[WEB4LIB] Re: database links within frame

[Thomas Dowling]

> On Tue, 16 Oct 2001 bob at esrl.lib.md.us wrote:

> > I'm trying to determine what, if any, legal or moral implications
> > there may be associated with linking to a commercial database like
> > Gale or ProQuest within a frame on a library web site.

> Looks like I said that wrong. An example of what I mean would be a
> link in a left-hand frame causes the linked site to appear in a
> right-hand frame. Gives the illusion of still being at the library's
> web site.


Free legal opinions aren't worth what you pay for them.

Before plumbing the depths of the moral implications, check whether there
are restrictions about this in your license or the site's AUP.  Then think
long and hard about whether this is something you want to do to your
users: the various ways in which frames can hose navigation, bookmarking,
printing, etc., have been well documented on this list.  Then do a test to
see if it's even possible: if you rely on this and the site has just one
target="_top" attribute (or a user's browser is set to disable frames),
you're stuck.  A couple of sites I run have been framed from time to time
and I now include <base target="_top"> just to frustrate this.

IMO, this practices obscures the authorship and ownership of the remote
site.  It may give some users the illusion that they're still at your
site, but they're not, and the perception may be that you're taking credit
for someone else's work.  Also IMO, frames are always a hindrance to
usability.

Thomas Dowling
OhioLINK - Ohio Library and Information Network
tdowling at ohiolink.edu