[Koha] Seeking opinions on the OPAC MARC views

[Stacy Pober]

Owen asked:

> Is the "raw" MARC view the one you prefer for this? As opposed to this one?
>
> http://catalog.bywatersolutions.com/cgi-bin/koha/opac-MARCdetail.pl?biblionumber=363

I far prefer the raw MARC view.  The 952 field is not displayed as a
normal MARC field in the  "enhanced MARC" field, and if you're trying
to troubleshoot a display problem in the OPAC, it's a lot easier to
work with the raw MARC.

It's probably true that most patrons don't use the MARC display, but
on the other hand, I've never gotten a question about it from a
patron, so they don't seem to be confused by it, either.

The only problem we've run into with the raw MARC view is a bug in the
display.  Where the MARC displays as a centered pop up, if you close
that box, it disables the "back" function in the browser.   If you hit
"Back" then you can back out of the raw display, but if you close it,
you are now stuck in that record and need to do a new search.

The html line that generates the centered display is:
<a id="MARCviewPop" href="/cgi-bin/koha/opac-showmarc.pl?id=3255"
title="MARC" rel="gb_page_center[600,500]">MARC View</a>

I just tested in a bunch of other Koha catalogs.  Some have the raw
MARC as a centered pop-up, some have it as a normal full-page HTML
display, and a lot of catalogs don't offer the raw MARC view from the
OPAC at all.  I don't know which catalogs are using which Koha
version, but versions supported by both PTFS and Bywater had the
centered pop-up, and both had the "no back button" bug as well.

-- 
Stacy Pober
Information Alchemist
Manhattan College Library
Riverdale, NY 10471
stacy.pober at manhattan.edu