Things Change

The first and the largest Italian-only surname data base is once again accepting submissions from active, paid-up POINT members.

The data base will be available in two forms: on a CD and as a printed Directory.

The CD or the Directory may only be purchased by an active POINTer whose dues are paid for the current year.

The data in these files is copyrighted and is intended for the use of the purchasing member only.

The CD will contain the following PDF files:

Surnames sorted alphabetically
Surnames sorted by town of origin

To access the data in these files, the user will need a PDF file reader, such as Adobe Reader, which will allow the files to be viewed or printed (in their entirety or selected pages that are of particular interest to a given user).

The CD will be updated regularly as new names are added and old names have data of origin changed, and a CD may be purchased as often as desired.

Cost of the CD: $20 (includes postage)

The same files that are on the CD will also be available as a printed Directory for the convenience of our members who do not use a computer. It will come in a three-ring, soft-cover binder.

The Directory will be updated periodically.

Cost of the Directory: $40 (includes postage)

The files on the CD (or the printed Directory) will provide the user with most of the information that was previously available in our Annual Directory, with the exception of the POINT Membership List.

When a user finds an entry and wishes to contact the submitting POINTer, the Membership Lists in the issues of POINTers for the current year will be needed to use the POINT Number to find the submitting POINTer's name, postal mailing address and/or e-mail address.

Since we had to re-start the data base somewhere, the information in these files (both on the CD and in the Directory), will, at the start, be substantially as it was in our Annual Directory #17 - 2005 (over 16,000 Italian surnames).

If your POINT Number is between 1 and 4987 AND you were an active, paid-up member of POINT for 2004, there is no need to re-submit your surnames; they are still in the data base and on the CD and in the Directory.

If your POINT number is 4988 or greater, that means that you joined POINT after 2004 and have no surnames in the data base.

Active members of POINT with paid-up dues who wish to submit new surnames to the data base should do so in small batches of eight or less at a time, using a list similar to the following:

POINT # Surname Town of Origin Pro Reg
POINT # Surname Town of Origin Pro Reg
POINT # Surname Town of Origin Pro Reg

Members may enter surnames without a town of origin, province or region (if that information is unknown) and add that information later when it is learned.

Surname submissions may be sent by e-mail (as text files, no attachments, please) or by postal mail (typed or hand-written). If hand-written, they must be clearly PRINTed to avoid errors or the list will be returned to you.

Send your surname submissions separately (no other material in the envelope) to:

POINT Italian Surname Data Base
Box 14966
Las Vegas, NV 89114-4966

Obviously, although the POINT Italian Surname Data Base has been around since 1987, producing it on CD is a brand-new endeavor for us.

We will eagerly await your comments and suggestions for improvement, of which we assume there will be many, just as POINTers has improved (we hope) over the years as a result of suggestions from our POINT family.

We expect requests for both the CD and the Directory to be brisk, so please allow at least six to eight weeks for delivery.

To order, send check or money order made out to POINT, in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank to either:

POINT Data Base CD
Box 14966
Las Vegas, NV 89114-4966

or

POINT Data Base Directory
Box 14966
Las Vegas, NV 89114-4966

If you are ordering the CD, you will receive the most current one.