Searching OCLC for retentions

There are several indexes for shared print, including:

• sh: (all shared print at an institution, e.g. sh:LOY)

•  sg: (limits a search to symbols in a GAC, e.g. sg:EAST)

• l8: (Searches text in the 583$f, e.g. l8:EAST)

The  583 subfield f  is indexed in “l8″ (that’s a lower case L”).   This would be a good index to use if you wanted to determine if an item is under retention, e.g. 

l8:EAST and no:24373800 

More information on finding shared print in OCLC can be found at their help page "View shared print commitments". 

There is also a Google Sheets Add On that enables searching for retentions by OCLC Number for small batches. This Add On requires an OCLC Search or Metadata API key/secret.

In addition to the EAST GAC, which consists of all EAST partners who participate in OCLC, there is also an ESTR GAC, which includes only EAST RETENTION partners who also maintain a subscription to OCLC WorldShare. This can be helpful in searching for holdings at EAST member libraries that may hold unretained copies of a title in need of reallocation. 

N.B. As of October 2026, the following EAST retention partners are excluded from the ESTR GAC:

Brandeis University
FLARE (Florida Shared Print Storage)

New York University

Tufts University - Law Library (TFH, TFW and TUFTV are in ESTR)

University of Florida

University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School

University of New Hampshire

University of North Carolina - Asheville

University of Rhode Island (RIN and RIU are in ESTR)

University of South Carolina - Columbia - Med School (SUC and SLW are in ESTR)

Virginia Commonwealth University

Washington and Lee University