# Lab conventions #### File names It is important for all files in the lab to be properly labelled so that they can be accessed by future lab members. File names should include the date last updated (in YYYY-MM-DD format), the project associated with, and a specific title (i.e., do not label files as "Bilingual Data" as that could refer to many projects within the lab). Avoid spaces and inconsistent capitalization in file names. Here's a good example: `"2022-10-03_lab-wiki_conventions-page-content.doc"` Here's a bad example: `"websiteContent version 2 CLEAN final.doc"` #### Tidyverse Our lab generally tries to embrace the [Tidyverse](https://www.tidyverse.org/) packages and [style guide](https://style.tidyverse.org/) when coding in R. #### Date formatting When using dates in the lab, always use YYYY-MM-DD format. This will prevent ambiguity around such dates as 2020-02-04 (this will *always* mean February 4, 2020 and NOT April 2, 2020 in our lab). #### Snakecase In R scripts, we like to use snake case, which means using all lowercase letters separated by underscores when naming variables and functions. `this_is_snake_case` #### Study shortnames All our lab studies have formal names, like "Trilingual Vocabulary" or "Bilingual Families Project". For file naming and generally referring to studies in the lab, we tend to use shortname versions of these, which are determined early on in the project before data collection begins (TriVocab and BFP are the shortnames for the two above). Always use a consistent shortname when saving data—for example, don't save some data with "TRI-vocab" and some with "TriVocabulary", as this will make data analysis more challenging. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://concordia-infant-research-lab.gitbook.io/lab-wiki/in-the-lab/getting-started-new-lab-members/lab-conventions.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.