Art lovers, history buffs and science devotees, take note: To get the most out of your next museum visit, make sure you have your mobile phone with you.

Not to gab on, of course, but to listen to audio tours that weave music, narration and recordings from historical archives designed to bring more context to the exhibitions. For many visitors, it comes as a welcome alternative to the decades-old system of museums renting out expensive handheld devices.

Museums across the country, once averse to noisy cell phones, are suddenly encouraging their use. In the past year, about a dozen art institutions - including museums in Los Angeles, Berkeley, Calif., Tacoma, Wash., Minneapolis and Greenwich, Connecticut - have begun offering mobile phone tours, mostly free. Dozens more are in the process of implementing the service.

One reason for the surge is the emergence of companies such as Guide by Cell of San Francisco, Ashburn, Virginia.-based Spatial Adventures and Minneapolis-based Museum411, which run computer servers and phone systems so museums don't have to.

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