diff --git a/pysegcnn/core/utils.py b/pysegcnn/core/utils.py
index 8be2d19dda47be3e14d9cad8d9335ab98f6ff468..617aff19a1dd9854991296076a8308e5b4718a5d 100644
--- a/pysegcnn/core/utils.py
+++ b/pysegcnn/core/utils.py
@@ -490,3 +490,14 @@ def doy2date(year, doy):
             datetime.timedelta(days=(int(doy) - 1)))
 
     return date
+
+def item_in_enum(name, enum):
+
+    # check whether the input name exists in the enumeration
+    if name not in enum.__members__:
+        raise ValueError('{} is not in {} enumeration. Valid names are: \n {}'
+                         .format(name, enum.__name__,
+                                 '\n'.join('- {}'.format(n) for n in
+                                           enum.__members__)))
+    else:
+        return enum.__members__[name].value