Trang này hợp tác với nhiều nhà xuất bản, chủ yếu là những nơi làm các tạp chí khoa học open access, để lưu trữ và quảng bá các sách, các chương (book chapter) tư liệu khoa học.
DOAB is a service of OAPEN Foundation, an international initiative dedicated to Open Access monograph publishing, based at the National Library in The Hague. Having as a primary aim to increase discoverability of Open Access books, it supports the OAI protocol for metadata harvesting (OAI-PMH), in order to maximize dissemination, visibility and impact.
Service providers and libraries can use the protocol to harvest the metadata of the records from DOAB for inclusion in their collections and catalogues. Aggregators can integrate the records in their commercial services and libraries can integrate the directory into their online catalogues, helping scholars and students to discover the books.