The information technology research community, comprising both academic and industry stakeholders, is responding to national and international imperatives that challenge disparate groups to work together. In this article it is shown how, within both academic and industrial contexts, researchers interpret, or constitute, the significance and value of research in different ways. Important aspects of these differences may be described in terms of what comes to the foreground when members of the community are asked to consider the significance of projects; and what recedes to the background, ultimately forming a 'perceptual boundary' beyond which they do not see. The study reported here represents a first step in understanding one dimension of the 'collective consciousness' of the information technology research community. The framework developed may contribute to the widening awareness of more experienced researchers, as well as revealing something of the character of the research community to those engaged in researcher training, education and development.