OUCS: IT Support Staff Services

ITS3 has purchased a selection of Novell Self Study kits which are available for rent to ITSS. Rental charge is £10 per week per kit. By recouping some of the investement in this way, there will be more money for further ITSS training materials and we hope people will be less likely to "lose" or hang on to the materials. See below for what is available and how to rent them.

• Desktop Management with ZENworks for Desktops 3 (781, v2.0, SSK)
• Integrating Novell eDirectory and Active Directory (556, v1.0, SSK)
• Netware 5.0/5.1 CNE Training (560, 565, 570, 575, 580, 555, 5.0 to 5.1 Update SSK). This includes Netware 5.1 Advanced Admin (570) and Integrating eDirectory/Active Directory (555)

Due to the packaged nature of the kits, we are not spliting any of them. For example, the 5.0/5.1 CNE training is 6 books, with 2 associated CDs plus various support material needed for different sections on further CDs and disks. If we later find that you only need book A and CD 1 for a particular section and book D with disk 3 for another, we may be able to split the packs up more.

• Contact ITS3 to see if the kit you are interested is available. If it is not in stock, we will chase the current renter for you and let you know how soon it will be available.
• Once you have been informed that your kit is in stock, send a purchase order for 4 weeks rental (£40) to ITS3, 13 Banbury Road. Account code is DEN1LSC.
• ITS3 will let you know where and when you can pick up the kit.
• ITS3 will contact you after 4 weeks, or earlier if someone else has requested the same kit, to ask if you want to extend the rental period or ask for its return.
• An invoice will be raised once the kit has been returned.

Q: What if I want to borrow a kit for more/less than 4 weeks?

A: Rental is charged at £10 a week, rounded up to the nearest whole number of weeks. If you borrow a kit for 5 weeks, you will be charged £50. For 3 weeks, the charge is £30. For 2 weeks and 1 day, the charge is £30.

Q: How do you work out the rental time?

A: The total rental time is from the first whole (0900 to 1700) working day ITS3 make the kit available to you up to but not including the first whole working day it is back in ITS3 possession. For example, we tell you your kit is available at 1430 on Monday 7 October. First day of rental is Tuesday 8 October. You return it at 1000 on Monday 14 October - 1 week rental. Return it at 1000 on Tuesday 15 October - 2 weeks rental.

Q: My department/college won't pay or I don't want to ask them. Can I still rent the kits?

A: Yes, send a postdated cheque for 4 weeks rental, payable to OUCS, to ITS3 instead of the purchase order.

Q: Realistically, how long does it take to work through a kit?

A: Each course (signified by a course number: 781, 556, 560, 565, 570, 575, 580, 555) is generally taught as a 5 day, instructor led course. So, if you take time off and really get your head down, it should be possible for you to do the same. With a mix of working, studying in odd moments or evenings, it will take longer. Any feedback on what you thought of the kits, how long it took, etc. would be very welcome.

Q: Two of the kits only include one course while the CNE one is several course, but they are all the same charge. Is this fair?

A: Without going into huge, complicated, schemes, we think so. It takes a lot longer to complete the CNE course so people will need to rent the kits for a lot longer and so will end up paying more.

Q: Sue Bloggs at the Dept of Ancient Fishkeeping has had the kit I want for weeks! I need it urgently!

A: ITS3 will do our best to make sure everyone has a fair go with the kits. This may mean limiting the time a popular kit can be loaned for in any one spell. Of course, you can ask to borrow the same kit again later.

Q: Do I get CPD points for studying using a kit?

A: Yes. The official wording is that self study of material which "leads to a successful examination or assessment" is worth 4 points per hour. You don't need to take the official CNE exam to earn the points, just be studying the appropriate material.

Q: You haven't answered my question.

A: Contact ITS3 and we'll deal with it personally.