E-textbooks & Digital Resources

UW-System's Polytechnic University

One of UW-Stout's core values is the pursuit of innovation, technology, and sustainability with a constant eye to the future. UW-Stout also values your learning experience and understands the speed at which information flows.

E-textbooks and other digital course resources add to the variety of instructional materials available through Instructional Resources Service (IRS), at an affordable cost to faculty and students. 

E-Reader Platforms & Digital Tools

Currently, digital content is provided by RedShelf/VitalSource

• RedShelf: Frequently Asked Questions
• VitalSource: Customer Service

Red Shelf, our current campus digital textbook platform has recently been acquired by VitalSource. Starting in winter of 2026, Instructional Resources Service and Learning Technology Service will begin the migration of all digital textbooks currently available on RedShelf to the new VitalSource reader. More information will be available soon, but instructors can expect increased functionality and the same one-click access within Canvas for a wider array of textbook options. If you have questions about these changes, please reach out to IRS at Textbooks@uwstout.edu. We will post more updates on this website as we learn more about the migration and begin building an FAQ and training materials. 

New this term with the update to VitalSource is the ability for instructors to request sample copies of textbooks related to the courses you are teaching. Please visit https://success.vitalsource.com/hc/en-us/articles/16974207753239-The-VitalSource-Faculty-Sampling-Platform for instructions on this process and how to access your digital materials.