Standardize a string

keystr.py

def key_str(term):
    '''
    remove as much from the string as possible while
    preserving its meaning
    '''
    term = term.strip()
    obv = term.split(' ')
    obv = map(lambda x: x.strip(), obv)
    term = ' '.join(obv)
    term = term.lower()
    term = rm_punctuation(term)
    return term

def rm_punctuation(term):
    #term = term.translate(string.maketrans("",""), string.punctuation)
    exclude = set(string.punctuation)
    return ''.join(ch for ch in term if ch not in exclude)