Open Access Kent State (OAKS)

This paper reports on a two-year study of the development and implementation of an electronic proposal processing system into a large professional organization. The paper takes a fresh perspective on the relationship between technological innovation and existing practices. Rather than focusing on the capacity of technology to revolutionize existing practices or the constraining power of existing practices on innovations, the study attempts to capture the interplay between the two. Originally introduced to streamline these practices and facilitate the more efficient transfer and processing of proposals for the American Educational Research Association (AERA) annual meetings, the electronic system has also raised significant questions about "standard" protocol for scholarly activity within the educational research organization. The paper documents some of these new questions and makes predictions about their potential effect on the life of the organization.