Last night was Academy Awards night here in the U.S., when the film industry recognizes the year's best movies and their stars with gold statues of a guy named Oscar.

So in the spirit of Oscar, I thought I'd share my nominations for the Internet's best resources for print-buying professionals. From my own book-marked collection of industry web sites, not including sites for printing firms or dot.com firms, here are my U.S. favorites:

www.PrintPlanet.com: A collection of e-communities for printing, publishing, and the graphic arts. Sign up for one or all of their forums and get daily postings from other print professionals. I belong to several.

www.whattheythink.com: More buyer-oriented than any other site I've found, whattheythink includes daily updates of ALL kinds of industry news, plus interviews with people from printing, graphic arts, print buying, manufacturing, and e-printing. Check out the Dot Com Watch feature by Eliot Harper. It's the most comprehensive list of dot.com printing firms available. (Disclaimer: some of my Print Tips are posted on this site as well.)

www.GATF.org: The Graphic Arts Technical Foundation is a nonprofit trade and educational organization serving the graphic communications industry. It's truly a resource for information and services about printing. GATF recently consolidated with PIA (the Printing Industries of America).

www.gain.org: Calling itself the "portal to the graphic arts industry," this site is a wealth of industry information. You can search for a printer or equipment as well as upcoming trade shows and meetings.

www.TrendWatch.com: This site monitors the "trends and changes in the graphics, publishing, and electronic media markets." Sign up for their free FastFacts newsletter.

The "Best Book for Buyers" award goes to Getting it Printed by Marc Beach and Eric Kenly. The runner-up is Pocket Pal, by International Paper, the handy industry standard. (Later this year my first book, a compilation of my first year of Print Tips, will be available as well.)

What are YOUR favorite web sites and books for general printing/graphic arts information? How about in other countries? Let me know and I'll spread the word.