Littérature latine et banques de données : ne quid nimis

The number of available digital versions of ancient Latin texts has increased in almost excessive proportions. These versions are recorded either on cd-roms (PHI3, BTL, Hyperbas-Lasla-Nice) or (more and more frequently) on websites (e.g. The Latin Library, Intratext, Itinera electronica,…). It can be observed that most of these digitalised texts are actually not data banks but at the outmost text-bases that do not include any critical, lexicological, morphological, or syntactical information. Moreover these bases are often copied and pasted from each other, thus reproducing the same files with their qualities and flaws. The aim of the present article is to provide a description of what is available and to hoghlight both positive and negative aspects