If you're suggesting your certificate quest is more about learning than the certificate, then I would suggest you keep books in mind too. The reason being, certificate courses are normally aimed at teaching you enough info to pass a specific exam. Whilst books will typically be broader.
And for what it's worth, in my experience, certificates (in the context of recruitment) are more often used as a gatekeeper.. aside from a few exceptions, such as some of the Cisco certs.
