Using EBB

Typing your exam in Electronic Bluebook is easy. Instead of writing your answer in a bluebook, you will type your answer into Electronic Bluebook.  After opening Electronic Bluebook by providing your examination number and other required information such as the course, and after making sure that a disk is in your disk drive, you will be allowed into the typing area of Electronic Bluebook. Once you are in the typing screen of Electronic Bluebook, the program functions like a simple word-processing program, allowing you to move around the screen using the cursor and return keys and allowing you to emphasize portions of your answer using the Underline, Bold, and Italicize bars at the top of the screen. For instance, to underline a portion of your answer, click on the Underline bar, type the words you wish to underline, and then click on the Underline bar again to turn the underlining function off.

• Electronic Bluebook allows you to highlight portions of your answer for deletion or dragging to a new location, but it does not allow you to copy blocks of text.
 
• Electronic Bluebook does not allow you to use any word-processing macros or shortcuts available in Word, WordPerfect, or other word-processing programs.
 
• Electronic Bluebook does not allow you to switch to other programs or review any files or directories on your computer while you are typing in Electronic Bluebook.  If you exit the program to review other files, you will not be allowed to return to the previously typed exam answer.
 
• Electronic Bluebook provides underlining, bolding, and italicization functions.
 
• Electronic Bluebook provides a timer, page counter, line counter, and word counter so that you can keep track of the amount of time and space you have devoted to each of your answers.
 
• Electronic Bluebook automatically places onto each page of your exam the exam identifier, course name, section number, and professor name that you entered into the program before starting to type your answer.  Therefore, it is not necessary for you to type your exam identifier and course information onto each page of your exam.
 
• Your typed answer will print out in a double-spaced Courier format, even though it appears in a single-spaced format on your screen as you type.
 
• Each page allows 24 lines of text.  If you would like to start each answer on a new page, simply press the enter button until the next page is shown on your page counter to the left of the screen.

Finishing and Saving Your Exam.

Once you finish typing your exam, click on the Finish Exam button at the bottom of the typing screen, and your answer will be saved to the disk in an encrypted format (and onto the school's network if your school is using the Network Version of EBB). When you click on the Finish Exam button, you will be asked to confirm that you have finished your exam. If you have in fact finished your exam, then click Yes.  If you have not finished your exam, then click No and you will be returned to the typing screen and to your existing answer.

• The Finish Exam option is the only way to exit the program.  Once you have exited the program, you will not be allowed to return to your answer to modify it.
 
• After finishing the typing portion of your exam, turn in your disk to the proctor or do as you are otherwise directed in accordance with the rules and regulations established by your school.

If You Need to Exit and Re-Enter Electronic Bluebook.

If for some reason you must exit the Electronic Bluebook program normally before you have completed the typing portion of your exam, then you will need to begin a new session in Electronic Bluebook in which you begin a new typed answer. Your prior typed answer will be stored along with your new typed answer on your diskette in encrypted format. The test administrator will be able to decrypt and print out both of your exam answers, and then it will be up to your professor or the test administrator to determine whether to grade either answer or both answers. You should consult any specific school guidelines or policies that may apply to such situations for definitive guidance.

If You Experience Computer Problems During the Exam.

If, while typing your exam, you experience problems with your computer, we strongly suggest that you complete your exam by hand. We make this suggestion because the problem is likely caused by a problem with your computer rather than an operator error or a problem with the program. Therefore, if you are experiencing a problem with your computer, it may well occur again if you continue typing your exam or have to restart the program. In such a situation, notify the proctor and/or test administrator that you have experienced a computer problem, and provide your computer to the proctor or test administrator or follow your school's specific guidelines for such situations. The test administrator should be able to recover your typed answer from the disk or from the backup copy on your computer even if you experienced a problem with your computer during the examination that made it impossible for you to exit the Electronic Bluebook program normally. A backup copy of your answer is made on your hard drive every 30 seconds, so that in the event a problem occurs, only 30 seconds worth of typing is likely all that would be lost.

Of course, there can be no guarantee that exam answers will always be recoverable in every situation--this is true no matter what computer testing program you use. Any time you use a computer, you take some risk of an error occurring that cannot be corrected regardless of the best efforts made.