[Web4lib] Loaning IPods for library tours & security issues

[Jason Kneip]

Good Morning!

My library is in the process of creating a virtual tour that we would like to pre-load onto a few IPod Nanos for students to check out. I've read a couple of interesting articles which discuss the implementation of such a project. But the one thing I cannot seem to find anything about is if there is a way to lockdown or protect the IPods while circulating so that students cannot try to add or remove content synced to the IPod. Having an IPod myself, I am aware that if a student were to try and add content to one of our IPods using their installed version of ITunes, the unit would have to be formatted to factory settings because it would already be tied to our library's ITunes software. But I wonder if there is some software option that would make this process easier on our circulation staff. Additionally, is there a way to sync several IPods to one computer with each unit having the same content? I'm envisioning several IPods connected to a USB hub that can sync to the same machine.

Thanks to anyone with experience on this matter who can provide some insight.

Jason Kneip
Archives / Special Collections Librarian