The work is time-consuming, grueling and detailed, but sorting through 60-year-old building permits is Ken Hollis' idea of a good time.

A plasma research technician by day, Hollis--pursuing his multiple interests in archeology, history and computer programming--often spends up to three hours a night plugging information from building permits and other historic papers into a computer database.

Hollis is just the kind of volunteer Diane Kanner was looking for when she set out more than three years ago to document the history of Los Feliz, the roughly 70-year-old community of old wealth and distinguished architecture built on hilly terrain at the southern base of Griffith Park.

The effort is called the Los Feliz Historic Survey, and its goal is twofold: to put together promotional pamphlets, presentations and a book about Los Feliz, and more broadly, to give historic status to some of the community's oldest and most famous properties.

Ordinarily, such surveys are initiated not by volunteers, but by city officials who study historic sites as part of a broader project, said Frank Parrello, a city planner. For instance, as the Los Angeles Planning Department updates the city's 35 community plans, officials will perform a general survey of potentially historic buildings to ensure that they are not endangered by revised land-use plans, Parrello said.

Los Feliz is considered part of the Hollywood community. Its plan won't be revised by city officials for another five to seven years, he said.

Kanner, a free-lance real estate writer and architecture buff, thought the community should have a more thorough survey than the city would do, and a lot sooner.

"People are curious to know who built the big, old houses in the area--and the modest ones as well," Kanner said. "We also want to find out where our potential landmarks are so we can prioritize those we feel are worth saving."

Kanner had experience in historical research as a volunteer for a survey of Hollywood in the early 1980s and later as a historic planning consultant for City Councilman Michael Woo. But a survey on the scale she contemplated would require private donations of perhaps $100,000 and volunteers.

Kanner and other organizers were confident that Los Feliz was the kind of community that could supply both.