Surveying the cultural resources of an area requires that the researcher gain rapport with local residents. Rapport is achieved by making clear the reasons for your research and the lack of threat that your work involves for local residents.
Historical context is easier for a local resident to accept than contemporary research.
Documentation should be complete enough that other researchers can understand the context of significance from your research materials. Folklife resources are evaluated within their context for significance and integrity. We also evaluate whether the informant is reporting or actually performing folk expressive culture. Folklife and other cultural intangibles have no life outside their communities. The behaviors may be documented but these notes will be a poor reflection of the vitality of living cultural traditions.