diff --git a/src/utils/mod.rs b/src/utils/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..003a042
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+pub mod author;
+pub mod formatting;
+
+use std::collections::HashSet;
+
+pub fn normalize_email(email: &str) -> String {
+    let email = email.to_lowercase();
+    email.trim().to_string()
+}
+
+pub fn normalize_name(name: &str) -> String {
+    let name = name.trim();
+    let mut result = String::new();
+    let mut capitalize = true;
+    for c in name.chars() {
+        if c.is_whitespace() {
+            capitalize = true;
+            result.push(c);
+        } else if capitalize {
+            result.push(c.to_ascii_uppercase());
+            capitalize = false;
+        } else {
+            result.push(c);
+        }
+    }
+    result
+}
+
+pub fn get_unique_items<T: std::hash::Hash + Eq>(items: &[T]) -> Vec<&T> {
+    let seen: HashSet<&T> = items.iter().collect();
+    seen.into_iter().collect()
+}