Q: How is an iPad like the AGO?

A: Each is an amazing resource, full of possibilities, for everyone to explore and enjoy in the way that suits each person best.

Daytime Gallery Guide Steve Edson chuckles at the suggestion. Yes it’s a bit of a joke, but there may be something to it. His own use of the iPad is the perfect example.

“I didn’t start using one as early as some Gallery Guides,” he explains. “I got myself one in March, sort of a birthday present to myself.” He chose the model with enhanced photo-taking capabilities, a reflection of his own interests.

“By now I must have taken more than 250 photos of artwork in the AGO,” he says, “with some special attention to the Canadian collection, because that’s a favourite of mine. These photos are a great research tool, for planning my tours.”

This really is the point: Steve is using the iPad in the way that pleases and works best for him. Some other GGs carry it around during their shift, or use it during their tours; Steve, a retired teacher, prefers to work from a text, but now he enriches that text with the discoveries he has documented using his iPad.

The iPad is an increasingly familiar sight about the building, and will become even more so, as more groups begin working with them. School Groups, for example, now has its own pilot project going.

How about you? Has an iPad become part of your work at the AGO? Email us at [email protected] and tell us about it. We’d like to share your story with other volunteers!