Location: the county, state, route or name of road, nearest town or landmark should be recorded so that clear reference to the structure can be made in pictures and text. If possible, use the GPS to record additional data about the location. Your location notes should allow others to find the structure.
Surroundings: consider how the structure is set in the landscape. Is it in the midst of fields or woods or on the edge in between? Is it on a hill or near a lake or stream? What is nearby? Is it in sight of a farm or quick market or near an intersection? How do the surroundings affect the function for which this structure was designed?
Site: how is the structure set on its immediate tract of land and what auxiliary structures are around it? Is there a pigpen next to the barn? Is there a new trailer next to the old house? Is there a paved parking lot in front of the church? If you are inspecting a church or cemetery, how is the structure sited in relation to the East? Draw a simple site sketch to indicate approximate size of the site, the general layout and distances and dimensions. Mark north on your sketch.
Scale/Dimensions: measure the structure if you can. At least try to establish a simple width, depth, height; measure with a tape if at all possible. If measuring is not possible, try to get some feeling for the human scale of the structure. Is there a wagon, tractor, or vehicle nearby? Can you photograph the structure with a person standing near it? Consider the structure in relation to other structures: is it larger or smaller?
Documentation: who is the owner of the structure? who lives there now or nearby? Who built the structure? For early [1800-1850] structures, ask where the first builders came from? Did they migrate from Virginia or North Carolina or from elsewhere? When was it built? How long was it used? Was the structure first used for another purpose different from its present use?
Image Record: use one or more mediums to record the structure: make drawing, photo, slide, digital image, VHS. If you can access the site and walk around the structure, follow the Photo Guidelines. Be sure to make a simple notebook sketch of the site and the structure to go with your images.
Conversation/Narrative Record: almost all access to a site or structure will involve contact with the owner, proprietor, or a neighbor. Be sure to record or note down any conversational information about the site no matter how anecdotal or fragmentary it may seem. "That's old man Sackett's place, but he ain't here; he's buried over in Lincoln County." "That house must have burned before the war, 'cause when Bobby came back he had to live in town." "Plans for that barn came from up there in Knoxville..." "First people here built that barn and ran a store across the road there." "There's a woodshed there now, but it used to be a still." Record all the detail you can recall--and take as much time as you can--in talking about these matters; you may be closer to the meaning of the structure than you realize.