nearly every exam I had at University, as a Computer Engineer, allowed 1 sheet of notes. So they were already not focusing on memorization even 20 years ago.
There was no limit on how many notes one brought in to an exam. Some of the weaker students turned up with rucksacks full of ring binders and the invigilators had frequently to admonish them to make less noise rustling the papers! Those students almost all failed or attained only a pass degree.
In my opinion this successfully weeded out those who thought that memorisation was enough. The exams typically never asked anything that could be answered simply by looking up the answer in notes or even the textbook.