In this paper we present novel integrable symplectic maps, associated with ordinary difference equations, and show how they determine, in a remarkably diverse manner, the integrability, including Lax pairs and the explicit solutions, for integrable partial difference equations which are the discrete counterparts of integrable partial differential equations of Korteweg-de Vries-type (KdV-type). As a consequence it is demonstrated that several distinct Hamiltonian systems lead to one and the same difference equation by means of the Liouville integrability framework. Thus, these integrable symplectic maps may provide an efficient tool for characterizing, and determining the integrability of, partial difference equations.