But not every institution, particularly the community-based sites that make up around 80 percent of history museums in the country, can afford to stop at nothing to attract a crowd.

More to the point, should they?

“Sometimes I think what we might call the bells and whistles go too far,” said James M. McPherson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian who serves as an adviser to both the Gettysburg Foundation and the American Civil War Center.

But even Mr. McPherson, a crusader for the preservation of historical sites, does not deny the benefits of mixing entertainment with education in the museum field. “The positive feeling is that it seems to be very successful in attracting visitors and viewers from all age levels and all kinds of backgrounds of historical knowledge,” he said. “I don’t really know whether it works, but if 3,000 people a day are going to the Lincoln Museum, and if even 1 percent are inspired by Lincoln, it may be having a positive impact.”

While the American Civil War Center draws on new technologies in its inaugural exhibition, as will the Gettysburg visitor center when it opens next year, the results are more subtle, melding images with words to poignant effect. Mr. McPherson said he hopes this approach proves as emotionally and intellectually stimulating as the more flamboyant exhibitions.

It is a constant refrain repeated by historians, curators and directors: After all the stops are pulled out, they insist, the museum is finally about the story and about finding a better way to present it to the generations in whose hands the fate of these museums rests.

“All museums are looking for ways to attract generation Xers and Yers, and the reasons for that are pretty simple,” said Ms. Davis of the American Association for State and Local History. “That’s the generation that’s going to be their larger share, not just as visitors but as board members and donors. Those are the people who are going to sit in the seats and make decisions for the future of museums.”