Shalom, Hava:

I and my colleagues had the same problem last year.  The history exhibit we
were working on needed more space than we had.   Here are some of the
solutions we used:

   --  an introductory video and an exit video.   The introductory video was
held in a small theatre space that we built at the beginning of the exhibit
(it seated 25 people). We had timed entry -- we ran the film every 20 minutes
and visitors' tickets were timed.   This prevented crowding in the exhibit so
that everyone could have a good experience.   If we had school groups or
overflow visitations, we ran the video every 10 mintues.
The exit video was projected on a screen above the exit ( a few yards before
people exited).   People could stand and watch as long as they wanted.   The
exit video was on a loop, so it just repeated.    Both videos were available
for purchase as one tape in our museum store if people wanted to take them
home.   The video for purchase was very popular.

    --  sound domes.    We used the speakers in a plexiglass bubble built by
Brown Innovations in Chicago.   They don't "bleed" the sound too much.  Four
or five people can stand underneath and hear.   Older people with hearing
problems don't like them but younger people (40s and younger) really like
them.  We had people reading from diaries, other historical accounts, and oral
histories, as well as music in the domes that related to the section of the
exhibit people were viewing.  We made our own CDs of this material and the
machines were on a loop, so that they just kept repeating.
Visitors could stand under the domes as long as they wished -- i.e., to hear
the whole section or just parts.

    --  notebooks.  Docents gave any visitor who wanted one a legal size
notebook in which we had texts that expanded upon the label copy.   These
notebooks were very, very popular.   Docents at the exit collected the
notebooks.   Once every three weeks, we had to replace the front two or three
pages which got worn looking from use.  I made about 50 notebooks.   This
technique is  inexpensive.  You can also easily change the material anytime
you wish.

If you have the budget, the video option  might be appealing.  It cost us
about $20,000 to make the video plus additional funds to lease the equipment
for the duration of the exhibit.  We shot some of the footage ourselves --
e.g., oral history interviews.  We also scanned images with our own computer
equipment.   Other museums and authors were very helpful granting permissions
for the use of their images gratis.   We did have to pay about $1600 to a
commercial photo archive as licensing fees for the use of their images.

The Minnesota Historical Society has used the pull cards effectively.   Maybe
someone from their staff will write in and discuss the usage.

Hope this helps.

pamela sezgin
Georgia Mountains History Museum at Brenau University