Whether it is "e-research" in Australia, "cyberinfrastructure" in the United States, the "grid" in Europe, or "e-science" in the United Kingdom, a transformation is clearly occurring in research practice, a transformation that will have a profound impact on the roles of information professionals within higher education. Research is becoming more multidisciplinary, more collaborative, more global, and more dependent on the capabilities offered through advanced networks and large data storage. "E-science" is described as a large-scale, distributed, collaborative science enabled by the Internet and related technologies. "E-research" is a broader term that includes nonscientific research, but also refers to large-scale, distributed, national, or global collaboration in research. This article discusses how these changes can provide new opportunities and challenges for information professionals within higher education, who must bring their know-how forward and actively engage in strengthening partnerships with each other and with the researchers within their own institutions if they are to continue to be a relevant and important part of the research endeavors of their institutions. (Contains 13 notes.)