A computer-assisted approach to the analysis of the structure of branched polysaccharides that contain 2,3-di-O-glycosylated alpha-rhamnopyranose and alpha-mannopyranose residues is based on evaluation of the 13C NMR spectra, using glycosylation effects and their deviations from additivity (delta delta values) at the branch points. This approach, in combination with monosaccharide and methylation analysis data, has been verified on a series of bacterial polysaccharides of known structure.