def METHOD_NAME(self, as_dict=True,
                base_url="http://www.lmsal.com/hek/her?"):
    """Retrieves the VOEvent object associated with a given event and
    returns it as either a Python dictionary or an XML string."""
    # Build URL
    params = {
        "cmd": "export-voevent",
        "cosec": 1,
        "ivorn": self['kb_archivid']
    }
    url = base_url + urllib.parse.urlencode(params)
    # Query and read response
    response = urllib.request.urlopen(url).read()
    # Return a string or dict
    if as_dict:
        return xml_to_dict(response)
    else:
        return response