While books typically do not have vast amounts of visual and manipulatable data. They can give you good information about what exactly GIS is, and how it can be applied in any number of scenarios.
Milne Library has a collection of books on GIS and GIS related topics that can be found at or near G 70.2
To find Books on how to apply GIS to another field of study, try searching in some of the resources listed on the right.
Search for books, DVDs and other materials throughout New York State and beyond
Google Books is a large collection of digitized books, freely available to the public. Some of the books you find here will be a limited preview, some will be full view.