All scrap paper and notes will be collected from the students at the end of the exam. If you permit students to keep their notes, they should make a copy prior to coming to the test center.
Just to clarify, if a student is allow to use open textbooks and notebooks, we are not going to take that at the end of the exam. If a student is allowed a study guide or page(s) of notes, we will take that and the student should make sure they have a copy before they come to the exam.
We are trying to prevent students from taking exam materials out of the testing center. We do not know what is involved in every class, so when we see a student with note sheets, we would not know if they had written exam questions on the notes to take to someone else.
My suggestion is that you show the proctor your notes when you enter the test room so that they will know you're bringing notes in with you. The safest thing to do (as they suggest) would be to make a copy of notes you're taking in, but of course that's a huge pain in the neck if you have lots of notes.
If I get any further clarification from the distance education office, I'll let you know.