By all means. It'll improve your flying ability to no end, and gives you a way out in case of deteriorating weather. And I don't know the exact status, but there's on-and-off talk about a deadline, maybe April 2015, after which the IMC/IR(R) is no longer issued. (I'm sure some other forumite will be able to provide chapter and verse on this.)
One of the Trevor Thom books is about instruments/instrument flying and if you don't have anything else, it's probably a good start. I actually started with the two FAA books (8083 and 8261) on instrument flight, and I found a book online "The IMC Rating Pilot's Notes" from
www.writek.co.uk.
You may also want to read up on the ANO (and recent ANO changes - check CAP393 and CAP804) to determine the recommendations and actual legal limits on the IMC rating.