Exam Software Information

For several years now, The UNC School of Law, with the full support of the faculty, has used secure software for the administration of exams. In the fall of 2009, the school switched to a new secure exam software package, Electronic Bluebook (EBB). EBB runs natively on both Windows and Apple operating systems. The software is required for students who choose to type their exam answers.

Although the law school does not have a laptop requirement for students, there are a few specifications your laptop must meet in order to run EBB.

If you are using a Windows-compatible laptop:

  • You must be running either Windows 7, Vista, or Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installed
  • You may NOT use Windows 2000, 98 or any earlier versions of Windows.
  • You may NOT use any Windows emulation software, including VMWare, VirtualBox, etc., in combination with EBB. Using EBB while running any emulation software is a violation of the honor code.

If you are using an Apple laptop:

  • You must be using an Apple MacBook, MB Pro, or MB Air (i.e., an Intel-based Apple laptop); earlier models such as iBooks and PowerBooks are not supported.
  • You may NOT use any Windows emulation software, including Parallels Desktop, VMWare, VirtualBox, etc., in combination with EBB. Using EBB while running any emulation software is a violation of the honor code.

For all users:

  • You must have an AC power adapter. Because School of Law exams can last longer than the life of a battery, you are required to plug in your laptop during exam taking. All classrooms have electrical outlets for this purpose.
  • The laptop should be your own. The School of Law IT department has a limited number of loaner laptops available for student use. However, the school will only provide you with a loaner laptop to use during exams under extenuating circumstances, such as personal laptop failure or severe hardware/software problems.
  • Your laptop must be registered for the campus UNC-1 wireless network. You can do so via http://onyen.unc.edu/ by scrolling towards the bottom of the page and clicking on "DHCP registration."
  • You should disable any anti-spyware or firewall programs (e.g. ZoneAlarm, McAfee Total Protection, Kaspersky) you may have running on your computer before using EBB.

Software licensing costs for Electronic Bluebook are covered as part of annual student fees. For students from other UNC departments or other law schools taking a single course, the fee is waived. The links to download the software are distributed early each fall semester through an announcement on My Carolina Law and the daily "Today at Carolina Law" email.



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