desLibris is a “Platform” on which monographs from Canadian publishers and public document sources are presented in online form. Publisher copyright is protected on the platform with user authentication.

All content on the platform is presented to the public in preview form, which offers the first 10% of the book for reading, but then denies access unless an account is in place.  Previews are also shown to library users where the title is not in the library's entitlement.

Three “account types” are available: Library, Group and Individual.

Both Library and Group accounts recognize Administrators and Users as distinct entities. Administrators have access to various “tools” to configure the platform for their users. Users have access to a second set of tools for research and reading

Access to all or segments of the content on the platform is granted in return for payment.  The accessible segments are known as “Entitlements.”

The desLibris platform is designed to host monographs and monographs in series,  but not journals, serials or periodicals. The monographs in desLibris are further classified into three categories. Books are monographs issued by publishers who have licensed desLibris as a library distributor. Documents are issued on the websites of governments and public or non-profit agencies to inform the public. Open Access titles are monographs which have been made available by their publishers under Creative Commons terms.

There are two broad categories of Entitlement, which might also be described as “License models:” These are Subscriptions and Perpetual Access.

The Subscription model is based on periodic payment; it is available for collections or group of materials. Single titles are not available for subscription licensing. Subscription licenses are usually granted for unlimited use within the institution, but they may also be subject to a concurrent user limit.

The Perpetual Access model is available for single titles or sets of titles like Standing Orders. These are one-time purchases which entitle the library or purchaser to permanent access. Perpetual licenses are available with two main usage controls: single-user or multiple simultaneous user. Permanent access is guaranteed by the Repository feature, which allows library purchasers to download watermarked PDF for local storage.

Where entitlements are granted to copyright materials, royalties are paid to copyright owners based on revenue from sales and usage.