R and Data Storage

Where I work a lot of people end up using Excel spreadsheets for storing
data. This has limitations and maybe some less than obvious problems. I'd
like to recommend a uniform way for storing and archiving data collected
in the department. Most of the data could be stored in simple csv type
files but it would be nice to have something that stores more information
about the variables and units. netcdf seems like overkill (and not easy
for casual users). Same for postgres and mysql databases. Could someone
recommend some system for storing relatively small data sets (50-100
variables, <1000 records) that would be reliable, safe, and easy for
people to view and edit their data that works nicely with R and is open
source? Am I asking for the moon?

Rick  B.