Academic skills map

Nowadays, many of the same academic skills apply when working with data and information, whether physical or digital. The metro map below shows how these skill sets overlap and intersect across three literacies:

Digital Literacy is about navigating the digital world critically, ethically and professionally, which includes the responsible use of AI and other emerging technologies.

Information Literacy is about finding, evaluating, (re)using and creating reliable information—beyond simple search engines and AI-powered searches.

Data Literacy is about working with data responsibly, from collection and analysis to interpretation, storage, sharing and communication.

Navigating this landscape is rarely straightforward. Explore the map and choose the route that best matches what you want to develop—having a sense of direction despite its complexity is a sign of literacy.

The Academic Skills map visualises how skill sets overlap and intersect across digital, information and data literacies. The map is indicative but not exhaustive or comprehensive of all overlapping steps or topics. For example, a best practice in both information and data literacy is to have some sort of plan in order to be efficient and potentially also to get the best results.
View a text description of the Academic skills map

Academic skills map description

Academic skills map showing how the overlapping areas of three literacies—Digital Literacy, Information Literacy, and Data Literacy—connect academic skills. Information Literacy includes planning, searching, reusing, analysing, evaluating, interpreting, organising information, copyright, and ethics and integrity. Digital Literacy connects critical thinking and ethics and integrity, with digital creation, collaboration, communication, and digital learning, problem solving and the awareness of new technologies. Data Literacy includes collecting, reusing, analysing, evaluating, interpreting, storing, preserving, ethics and integrity, privacy and security, critical thinking, and communication. The map highlights the connection of the literacies and shared skills.

Academic skills support

We offer support on academic skills with the focus on Digital, Information and Data Literacy. Below you find more information on the separate literacies.

Digital Literacy
Information Literacy
Data Literacy

Teaching resources

As a strategic partner for academic skills, the University Library offers rich expertise and years of experience to translate and tailor our digital, data and information offers into the discipline-specific context of your faculty. Our services include comprehensive online modules and workshops designed to fit the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) environment.

Why integrate Digital Literacy, Data Literacy and Information Literacy into your teaching?

In a PBL setting, we cultivate essential skills to independently and critically manage a wide range of information, from academic literature to discipline-specific sources such as statistics, data visualisations, historical documents, images, and popular media.

These competencies are indispensable in the 21st century job market, where employers seek individuals proficient in searching, evaluating, organising, and communicating information. In today’s world, the digital element is indispensably connected with finding information, this is why we next to Information Literacy are also developing our services for Digital (including AI) and Data Literacy.

For more details, please explore our offers below and our Digital Literacy service catalogue to see how we can support your educational ideas. We work in close collaboration with the library’s Digital Labs.

Skills modules

Most of our modules are micro-modules, meaning they are short and easy to embed into your courses and assignments.

Our skills modules are Open Educational resources (OER) and can be integrated into your course in two ways. You can share the URL link to the module with your students, or you can embed the skills module into your Canvas course. The online skills modules offered by the library can be used by all UM teaching staff to provide their students with a common ground to Digital Literacy, Data Literacy and Information Literacy.

Workshops

Workshops and trainings in the field of Information and Digital Literacy skills, such as systematic searching, referencing, plagiarism, the responsible use of GenAI, and digital content creation, such as podcasts, are available for students (from bachelor to PhD), staff members and alumni from Maastricht University and the academic hospital (MUMC+).

Programme coordinators and teaching staff who wish to implement Information, Data, and/or Digital Literacy skills activities (such as workshops, modules and assignments) in their courses, can contact us via Ask Your Librarian.

As inspiration, see an overview of upcoming events, workshops and courses.

Support course in Canvas

The University Library provides support in embedding the Digital Literacy, Data Literacy and Information Literacy online modules into the Canvas environment. We have created a Canvas course to help educators get started with the integration of our online modules and teaching tools. Log in to this course to keep up with the latest developments and advice on Digital Literacy, Data Literacy and Information Literacy. If you do not have access yet, please contact Ask Your Librarian to request access.