<SYSTEM_TASK:>
Solve the following problem using Python, implementing the functions described below, one line at a time
<END_TASK>
<USER_TASK:>
Description:
 def _is_iterable(val):
 """Ensure that a value is iterable and not some sort of string"""

    try:
        iter(val)
    except (ValueError, TypeError):
        return False
    else:
        return not isinstance(val, basestring)