def get_cell_entry(cell):
    """
    function for reading cell entry of given xls spreadsheet cell

    input: cell (xlrd.sheet.cell object), cell to be read from

    output: entry (any), value stored in cell
    """

    cell_str = str(cell)    # get cell description
    if 'text' in cell_str:  # typical text cell: text:u'L'
        entry = cell_str.split("'")[1]
    elif 'number' in cell_str:  # typical numerical cell: number:3.0
        entry = cell_str.split(':')[1].split('.')[0]
    else:
        entry = ''

    return entry