Searching

I am not quite sure how I should do this: I need to make a feature that would search several columns in a table for stuff. What I'm not sure is, how would I make it work like a normal searchn (using and, or, etc.), are there some kinds of functions in PHP for this? or do I have to parse the search string? I'm not quite sure where I would begin. On top of my php incompetence, I don't know sql very well, so that adds to my problem. Any pointers (no pun intended), in the right direction would help. Thanks Ed