Bookmarking is one way of storing and organizing all your favorite sites at one location. But, how do you know if one of the 20 blogs you've bookmarked has just been updated? Simple, subscribe to the blog by using an RSS reader.

RSS readers allow you to subscribe to blogs, wikis, news, and other websites. When you subscribe to an RSS feed on a website, you automatically receive the latest updates in your reader. So, you don't need to check every one of your favorite sites every day for updates manually.

Google Reader is a good tool for managing RSS subscriptions.  It is Web based, so you can access the same tool from home, work, or abroad.  I've been using it since starting the Work Literacy program and I have found it very helpful, easy to use, and easy to search.

Along with an RSS readers such as Google Reader, you can use sites such as iGoogle or Netvibes as your aggregator. You can aggregate feeds from various sources, including your RSS feeds, bookmarks, Twitter feed, etc. at a central, easy-to-find location. Sites such as Netvibes also allow you to share feeds and pages, follow other users, send them messages, etc, thereby doubling up as a social networking tool.

Using an RSS feed reader and and aggregator to collate resources for and from an entire class is one way to maintain a good reference library and encourage a collaborative environment.