[Web4lib] Is a new browser window always a no-no?

[Rachel Davis]

Thanks to all who have helped me with the target link attribute question I
posted earlier.

In the process of learning how to target links to always open in the same
browser window (naming the new window, instead of using target ="
_blank"), I am also learning that opening links in a new window is
considered one of the "top ten mistakes of web design," unless the link is
to a document or a large image.   I am wondering what the general opinion
is about book lists that link to catalog records (which is what I'm
working on.) 

Our staff frequently gets requests for books that I read at story time, or
books that are recommended for reading aloud to groups of young children. 
I am including a page on our site to story time books I have read
organized by theme, with each title linking to its record in the OPAC.  I
don't have the ability to edit the OPAC to provide a link back to the
library webpage.  I know users can always use the back button, but I would
think it would be more annoying to lose the library site--and the book
list the user was looking at--than to have a new window pop up showing the
book's record in the OPAC so it can be requested.  

If I click on a book title and find I am now in the OPAC, and then I
request the book, I have to go through several steps in order to return to
the library website and the list of books--it's not as simple as just
hitting the back button once to return to the site.  It would seem
preferable to engage in the activity of placing a request in a separate
window so that the original book list is readily available in the original
window if I want to refer to it, request another title, or go to a
different page in the library's website.

So, in the case of links to catalog records in book lists like this, do
others feel a new browser window is justified, or is it better to require
the user to use the back button in order to return, eventually, to the
library web page?

Thanks for your advice!

Rachel

Rachel Q. Davis
Children's Librarian
Thomas Memorial Library
6 Scott Dyer Road
Cape Elizabeth, ME  04107
207-799-1720