LDS stands for the Church of Latter Day Saints - the Mormons. Since the 1960's the LDS church has been microfilming local records from all over the world. They have amassed the largest genealogical collection in existence at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. These microfilms can be rented for a small fee at local Family History Centers all over the world.

FHL is the acronym for the Mormon's Family History Library. It's used when describing the number used to order in a microfilm from the library's collection. The holdings in their vast collection can be browsed online at the Family Search website.

FTM is the Family Tree Maker company. Genealogy has become big business - and FTM is one of the major players in that industry. They have made a broad range of genealogical records available to researchers on CD's. The quality of their CD's varies between excellent and lousy. Each of the CD's is described by a number in the series - and identified in this webpage as FTM#(series number).