Added many helper functios, started removing xmltodict
Added many helper functios, started removing xmltodict

erinspace/scrapi,icereval/scrapi,jeffreyliu3230/scrapi,CenterForOpenScience/scrapi,erinspace/scrapi,CenterForOpenScience/scrapi,fabianvf/scrapi,felliott/scrapi,felliott/scrapi,mehanig/scrapi,alexgarciac/scrapi,mehanig/scrapi,fabianvf/scrapi,ostwald/scrapi