DAREnet was launched in January 2004 as a model to demonstrate the repository network in the Netherlands. It offered a single access point to local digital collections at all Dutch universities and various related institutions, with a uniform method of presentation. This made DAREnet unique at that time: nowhere else in the world was it possible to access a country's digital scientific and scholarly research output with such ease. DAREnet quickly demonstrated the value of repositories in terms of worldwide access and long-term storage. SURFfoundation then worked to create a permanent, more stable version of DAREnet.
When the DARE programme concluded (late 2006), control of DAREnet was transferred to the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. SURFfoundation continues to work on innovating this infrastructure.
DAREnet became part of NARCIS, the Academy's science portal, in June 2008. NARCIS was developed by the Academy and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) within the context of the DARE programme. Since then, the Academy has continued to work on the portal. Besides offering access to the repositories, NARCIS also permits searches for data on researchers, research organisations and current (or recently concluded) research at all Dutch universities and research institutes. The thousands of datasets from the DANS Electronic Archiving System (EASY) can also be searched via NARCIS. When DAREnet was transferred to the Academy, efforts were made to integrate the two search portals. This also includes the Cream of Science Site.