MyISAM tables support full-text searches that allow faster searching on VARCHAR/TEXT columns. MySQL 5.6.4+ and MariaDB 10.0.5+ included support for full-text search functions on InnoDB tables as well.
See https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.6/en/fulltext-search.html
It would be great if Record supported the use of MATCH/AGAINST as a search condition that accepted an array of columns as input as well as a search string and search modifier.
Additionally, a FULLTEXT index must also be supported similarly to how INDEX, PRIMARY, and UNIQUE can be currently since full-text searches using MATCH/AGAINST can only occur on a FULLTEXT index.