Research...

I have been collecting data on our family for over 10 years now. Until the internet, I only had scant records, and a few stories. I have been able to find records, and meet family members I never knew I had thru some of the message boards online, and other excellent sites. Here are the sites that were most helpful to me during my research and the creation of this site:

The Ellis Island Records Searchable site
The best tool I've found yet for finding relatives who emigrated through Ellis Island.

FamilySearch.org
Church of Latter Day Saint's website. Thousands of records available online. An excellent resource.

Rootsweb's Meta Search
Excellent tool for searching surnames. Searches multiple sites at once, including Ancestry.com

Frank Arduini's Genealogy site
At his Web site, Frank Arduini shows examples of Italian vital records with step-by-step instructions as to how to read and extract the data.

Donna Guiffre's Ita-Sicily Homepage
Great site including links to maps, ships, photos, places, ect. Also has a surname search and link to subscribe to the ITA-Sicily mailing list.

Surnames in Italy and Sicily
Type in your surname and see where in Italy or Sicily those surnames are located today!

University of S. Florida's Special Collections Dept.
If you have ancestors that lived in Ybor City, Tampa, FL, you absolutely must view this site! Contains photos galore; some of Sicilians living in Ybor City circa 1933 in the Centro Asturiano files.

The Italo-Albanian Heritage Pages
John Cusimano's excellent site researching the rich history of the Arbereshe people of Sicily.

Contessa Entellina by Leita Spoto
A MUST for researchers of Contessa. Contains a database of birth, marriage, and death records from Contessa for the years 1820-1865.

The Italian Genealogy Homepage
A great place to start your family research. Full of infomation about how and where to begin your search.

Sicilian Culture: The People, The History, The Culture, The Food, The Language, The Comments!
Very interesting site about all things Sicilian. Be sure and check out the Biographies link.

Joe Guirreri's Sicilian Surname List
Find other researchers searching your surnames.

Best of Sicily - Genealogy
A guide to Sicilian travel, records, and more.

Cyndi's List on Italian Genealogy
Contains hundreds of links to genealogy research sites, as well as quite a few mailing lists. A must.